i awakened this evening by Amy who came into the bedroom to wake me up because the "bucket is on fire". i work nights and sleep in the afternoons/evenings. My heart jumped out of my body as i fell out of bed.
The bucket she was refering to is a 36 gallon plastic tote bin that we are starting our 14 chicks in.
Sure enough one of the kids had bumped the heat lamp, knocking it into the bucket. The lamp heated the newspaper at the bottom of the bin, which miraculously never caught fire, but the plastic tote melted clean through and man it smells *wonderful*. The good news is that at no time were there flames, and more importantly (at the moment at least) the house didn't burn down.

i am really recharged by the conversations that took place this weekend. We talked about community, and living in balance, being the church, world hunger and "who are our neighbors". The Tougas family came over and tented in our backyards and it was wonderful! Especially having an additional three kidd-os running around (no joke!). When they eventually had to depart the house seemed somehow emptier, but one of the cool things that i *learned* this weekend was about the fluid Church. Community has nothing to do with ownership or membership or "club rules".

When finally the Church departed and the Tougas (who are part of the Church of course, but left considerably later than the rest) had to go back to Lewiston, the empty void was nearly immediately filled by our neighbors.

It's an amazing feeling, people coming together to share things and life together. We have spent a lot fo time (our neighbors and we) sharing things and evne a bit of life. i hope that as days go by this trend increases and that someday we will share not just in our belongings in own little cooperative, but also our lives. . . well, more of our lives that is.

The garden is all in. It has been a very dry spring. i worried that perhaps nothing would grow this year. But even amid my lack of faith the garden grows. This year we have had more hands in the building and planting phases than any year in the past. The Hogan's planted the corn and the gourds and a number of other yummies, the kids planted the dry beans, i planted the cukes, eggplants (and all the yucky stuff), God planted the pumpkin (OK, actually one of the pumpkins from last year was starting to rot before we had the chance to cook it, and so we through it in the garden while there was still three feet of snow. . . oops!). Walking through the beds today it was great to see the kid's beans coming up, the peas are poking through, and even the corn (that i was really doubting was going to grow) was up!!
The most special part is that at the end of the year we will eat a harvest that our hands planted together and God blessed!
And so now we wait. . . for the weeds! And while we wait, the kids are seizing the days playing in the grass, swinging on the swings and climbing a tree in the neighbors yard that they have grown very fond of. The little ones like to watch the turkeys and the chickens running around the yard. The older kids are out on bikes. Best of all. . . the neighbors have opened the pool!! Summer is most definitely here.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control.

Spring is back, the grass is green, the garden is planted, and there has been an oriole in the neighborhood. i love this time of year.

It seems like there is always so much going on. We have planted the garden, are talking about home improvement projects, getting ready to look at new houses (yes we still need more space). Even when it is quiet around the house there is still a lot on our minds.

i like that we can challenge each other (and not just in a festive game of chess). The last couple of weeks the fruits of the Spirit keep coming back up. You are always being tested when there are eight children living in such a small place together. From a parents perspective (and i owe a lot of credit to the mom's who are nearly always with the kids - we dad's work outside the house). In spite of all of the challenges the answer is as simple as love! Looking at the fruits of the Spirit (and some of the other characteristics of a disciple of Jesus as listed throughout the Bible) It all comes back to love.

Patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self control are just elements of love. Joy and peace are natural biproducts of love.

Sometimes i think that children (regardless of the number of them) are a blessing because they help us to perfect love. There are really good parents out there and there are really lousy parents. Regardless, as long as we have breath in our lungs there will be room to improve our ability to love. . . and its our children who are often both the best teachers and the best practical exams!!

i love all of the conversations that is born after our visits to Bellvale. i like them even more when we have others with us! And this time the coolest part was that we were able to go to Bellvale not just as a family, but as a community!
Our talks have been seasoned with traditions we would like to start, forgiveness, patience, love, how we can convert cool junk like the old fashion sink that we found at our neighbors house into a bonfire pit!! Most of all for the first time we, as a community, able to dream together with some commonality (inspiration might be a better word).
On a totally unrelated thought (OK not TOTALLY unrelated), and i understand that community is a mater of the people and not the practices. Still i am excited about some of the things that are happening around the house. The garden is tilled and we are looking at some cool new organic gardening techniques, and the girls have a new sewing machine with which they are going to reupholster the couch and make clothes.
This is starting to look like it's going to be an awesome summer!!!

There comes a time in every life, when we really feel the need to be a place where we feel like we are "home". When I came to that point last year, and approached my husband about moving here to Maine, I really had no idea what God truly had in mind for us. God has literally taken our lives, and changed them from outside in, to inside out. Everything that happens in our not so little family is literally, inside out. Everyone can see, we are totally transparent. The struggles that we have on the daily basis are laid wide out in front of a whole new family, that we really knew nothing about prior to coming here. It is amazing how much more it makes you think about what you are doing, what you are saying, how you are reacting, and what exactly you judge by. Standards are challenged, thoughts are challenged, and daily, I am given the opportunity to grow and change in new ways. some days I pass, and some days I fail miserably.

I think all of us within the household can say that the reality is setting in, and the struggles are becoming more real, as the facade of who we would love to be, becomes more and more the person who we really are. We are each learning more and more how to love one another, how to teach and reach one another, and how to care for the other members of the community at large.

God has truly blessed us with a mix of many gifts within our little community, and the longer we are together, the more those gifts come into play and are able to be lived out in our daily walk together. As each part of the community actually functions in what God has called them to, we start flowing more freely and more productively. As long as we just keep swimming, we will find our way.

i like the image of marching. Not for any military reason, or even for the sake of conformity. i like the image of marching because i think of groups of people marching together - moving in the same direction, at the same pace, toward the same destination. Everyone in the group is moving toward the same goal together.
Now i like to think of community as a troupe from the Ministry of Silly Walks (it's a British humor thing for those of you who are not Monty Python fans), a group of people all marching in their own silly style, together, toward the same goal.
i was really blessed today. Jacob and i were talking and he told me that he wanted to join me in a fast remembering the plight of the poor around the world. i didn't ask his reasons, or if he understands how hard this type of endeavor may be, perhap someday i will. In the meantime i see in him the desire to march, together, in community, and that gives me all the more hope.

i do believe that Jesus was referring specifically to children. The thirty somethings feel older than i remember them looking when i was younger (meaning that when i was in high school, all of the thirty some odd year olds seemed to be a bit more. . . um, perky, than i feel now).
There is a big adjustment when you slip from "regular American life" into community. The addition of children is certainly taxing (for lack of a better word at the moment), but it is also a blessing. If i had only one thing to be thankful for more kids for (and there is definitely more than one thing) it is that they remind us "old folks" to occasionally be young.

On a side note. . . being young is always better when someone is lurking around the corner with a camera to catch the action on camera!

Fortunately somebody somewhere had a great idea - to offer alternative forms of power at only a slightly increased cost.
Through Energymaine.com CMP and Bangor Hydro customers can sign up to use wind power, hydro power, or a mix of the two. All of the options are zero emission and the hydro stations are green-certified. To buy in it only costs an additional 1.25 cents per kilowatt hour. i am sure it isn't a perfect set up, but it is a step in the right direction.
And so now the Weeman road house is just a little more green than before!

It's been way too long since i have been in a third world country. If i could go back today i would enjoy the food and the people, but i would be most attentive to the people's space management.
We here on Weeman road definitely covet space, but Damien reminded me not too long ago that people in impoverished countries have more people than we living in a smaller space. He's right. i have seen it. When i saw it though, i didn't have kids, didn't really think much about how kids function and didn't consider that someday i might have to think about how kids function.
Now granted, were we in a third world country the kids would have different life expectations and probably would just naturally fit into the groove. As it is here we have taken older kids from two different kingdoms (the city empire, and the rural nation) and thrust them together suddenly into the "third world" (term used VERY loosely) as far as housing accommodations. i think they have done exceedingly well. Still there are times when i can watch their frustration. City folk get bored in the sticks and Townie kids miss their space. Then there are the ripples that affect the parents. It gets frustrating on all ends eventually. i don't if there is a fix that we parents can provide other than to pray and let God work it out in our hearts and minds.
And like grace landing on our shoulders like a dove comes silliness. Everyone sitting in the gazebo (can i even use the word "gazebo" in the same blog after having compared our housing situation to the third world - shame on me) after the church has gone back to their homes singing songs and laughing at Amy who is crying because she is laughing so hard at nothing whatsoever.
We laugh, we chuckle, we sing songs, we play guitars and drums and then retire into the house to play cards while the kids sleep.
We are blessed more than many!

Be at peace