Community Part II
The loss of whole days to incapacitating back pain ultimately cost me my freelance design job (understandably so, the man who hired me was truly sorry…
Community Part I
Community living is loud. At any given moment, doors are slamming, kids are shouting, sirens are blaring on the streets below, the sounds of guitars and…
Jean Vanier
What made me join JPUSA thirty years ago, and would I do the same thing today? That thing I was looking for back then is the…
Why I Stayed
I first heard of intentional community when reading the book Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne the summer after my freshman year of college. That book completely…
The Intimacy of the Lord’s Prayer
Sometimes I zip past the first line like a runner anticipating the sound of the gunshot to ring in the air signaling the start of the…
Community is What You Make of It
I’ve been told many times since my arrival to JPUSA that, “Community is what you make of it.” As I understand, community is the wide-reaching term…
The Unexpected
When I moved into Jesus People, I moved into a room two doors down from another woman named Sarah. Sarah was, and is, one of my…
Eraserhead and the Power of Confession
Late at night I lie awake in bed shaking, and remembering Jeff. Jeff was the first guy we ever had in our family group. It’s…
Mornings
Mornings are my least communally-minded time of day. I don’t like most people right then—and I definitely don’t like talking to them. I wake up, and…
Ugly Mugs
At JPUSA we have a tradition of collecting and using “ugly mugs” from thrift stores in our neighborhood. Our use of tableware has gone through several…