Just another day in Bellvale

One of my favorite times of the year. We try to visit some of our dearest friends in Bellvale at least twice a year. It is a good time to connect, to work, to be inspired, and to kind of bring our world back into perspective. One of the coolest parts of the trip was that we got to go down not as a family, but as a community this time. It brought a whole new perspective to our trip.

The weekend was chock a block of connecting with nature! Day one we "accidentally" found a festive little morrell patch near the home of our really good friends! We discovered that weekend (and of course it is all in jest) that in the community of believers that we share everything. . . except of course the secret location of the hidden mushroom patch. OK, yes pretty much everyone knows where it is at! They can figure out distribution later.


On a walk around the lake we saw a family of swans with seven signets, a female oriole building a nest and a bald eagle circling the lake and being harassed by a crow.

The conversations around the campfire were great! i had an opportunity to talk with Christoph Arnold a bit about living in community and then we sat around the fire with the gang from the Camden house in New Jersey. Chris Haw used an analogy about communities cross pollinating. i really dig the idea. It allows different fellowships to maintain their own identities while sharing ideas in unity! Now if only we can share this thinking with all the churches, making the church once again one!

Another perk. . . we finally got a picture of the whole Weeman road community together! Its about time.