California Dreamin'

So I'm amazed that no matter how often I think I have life figured out, some new vision for the future surprises me. We've met some new friends in town who have been dreaming about forming an intentional Christian community right here in suburban Elk Grove. We felt called to come hear before knowing that others felt that perhaps God was calling us to lives of simplicity, sharing, and outrageous love with our wealth, both spiritual and financial. Right as we have met these new friends, property in the neighborhood I grew up in, which is the only neighborhood with any acreage left, has plummeted in value. Huge swaths of land with older farmhouses, and some newer town homes are selling for around 100k, when just three years ago the land was selling for over 600k. So God is providing like-minded friends, the property, and now we just need to pray for more like-minded friends. It would be a bit daunting to buy up lots of property and not be able to fill it with folks who want to live in community with us. So please pray that we have wisdom in this crazy idea called an intentional community. We aren't even sure what it is, or how it would work, but the seeds are definitely planted.

"The Lord only promises the kingdom of heaven to the poor. That's because anyone who loves temporary material blessings loses the fruits of love. No one can serve both God and money because either one will be loved and the other hated, or one will be served and the other detested...So give away your clothes-your earthly possessions and you won't be pinned by the one fighting against you. Then you can enter the kingdom of heaven via the straight path and the narrow gate. What a great swap! To exchange the things of time for the things of eternity, to get one hundred gifts instead of one, to enjoy life everlasting!" -Claire of Assisi, Letters 1212AD

On a side note, I'm in my 35th week of pregnancy, almost to month 9, and I'm daily floored by practice surges or contractions. Despite my huge energy level which has propelled me to bike, walk, or swim every day this past week, I find that by the evening my uterus is NOT happy with me, and therefore floors me with an endless surge that knocks my breathe away. I can't wait for this baby to come, although then I won't get any sleep for at least 3 months and will be a walking zombie, but at least I'll have my body back. I've lowered my pain medicine before I go to bed since my new midwife advised against it, so the exercise is my way of making sure I can get to sleep at night. Swimming today will likely relax my hips enough so that they won't ache as I lay on my side at night. What a blessing I have to live with such wealth that I have a cozy super soft King sized bed to sleep in each night. I keep wondering how women who are pregnant in hovels all around the world survive as they sleep on dirt floors. God forgive ME for whining!