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jewls – thanks so much, i totally didn’t make that connection, i had seen that mother teresa piece before but i am so glad you reminded us! it’s so good i thought i’d post it here:

from mother teresa….

people are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. forgive them anyway.

if you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. be kind anyway.

if you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. succeed anyway.

if you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. be honest and sincere anyway.

what you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. create anyway.

if you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. be happy anyway.

the good you do today, will often be forgotten. do good anyway.

bive the best you have, and it will never be enough. give your best anyway.

in the final analysis, it is between you and God. it was never between you and them anyway.

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carol – it was so good to hear from you! we think of you both a lot and that sweet short time we had in colorado on your adventure! we really wanted to pull off AZ-mexico community with you but it was too much to do. it does help us feel so much less alone to hear a bit of where you are at now that you are back and living out some of what has been stirring in you both before and after your journey. lots of love and hope and peace to you and your dear community that God is beautifully shaping there. somehow it does feel like we’re all in this crazy thing together, living out some of these God dreams in all different ways.

both of you, from vermont, from arizona, thanks for sharing today and passing a little love to me in colorado. the timing couldn’t have been more perfect & you didn’t just encourage me but the refuge team, too.

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Thanks for this and the vertigo post. I’ve been feeling kind of alone and crazy after the jump from the cliff myself. So I thought this morning. What are Kathy and the Refuge folks up to. They will understand. And maybe I won’t feel so alone. So thanks.

Kate and survived the jump from the cliff. I guess once the fall is survived, maybe with some broken bones, and a permanent limp, one feels grateful to be alive. And life is different down here. A new land. Completely different.

Back in Tucson we are wandering around in Plan B and C and D. And that is life. And it’s only moments. We can’t even begin to know what is unfolding. It’s subtle and seems to be bigger than us and we are not in control. But what else can be done. If we are to be faithful sometimes we have to just do it. When God is doing a new thing, sometimes it is really hard to perceive it. Even to us who are called to do it.

So for us, “Ah, what the hell, why not?” meant following the Spirit right out the door of a three bedroom house and into the life of spiritual explorers in a camper truck with no actual home to now living in some friends’ guest house for free. But hey, we have a place to live.

It means doing full-time sort of related jobs and growing our little community on the side. But hey, we are meeting people we would not have met before.

I feel like I’m planting guerilla gardens in cracks in the sidewalk. Which is cool just not what i planned.

So yeah, I think I’m still with you, “Do it anyway.” But it may hurt a little. And that’s just the way it’s going to be. And what then? I guess just do the next thing anyway too. I don’t know what else to do these days.

Thanks for spending the time to write on your blog, and helping the rest of us feel not quite so alone and crazy for doing it anyway.

Sending you and the Refuge good vibes this morning. Thanks for all you are doing. May the Spirit keep her dancing up around there. Carry on with the goodness.

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Let me give you an example that involves you! As a very direct result of you blogging, my heart has dared to come alive to the possibility that I need to stop running from being a “reluctant leader,” and just jump in and do it. So I am! Now, when you folks started the refuge, were you thinking, “You know, there’s this woman in Vermont who used to not be afraid, but then she got wounded and now she won’t come out of the back of the cave. If we start the refuge, and start blogging, she’ll read it and will find healing and get back up again.” I don’t think so . But, for me, your “thing” was not about “the” thing I needed that God put into my path!

Closer to home, I recently (as a result of above) decided to start to explore gathering with a group of people again. That was “the thing” I was focused on. Well, as emails and phone calls went out, my “thing” quickly was no longer the thing. Suddenly, what was happening relationally with people as a result of one email sent out was “the thing.” I sure didn’t plan it (and frankly would have avoided if I’d seen it coming!). But, it was used of God to restore dignity to someone’s life, and to bring them healing and hope for the future.

All of the above came from a little side effect of “the thing” you focused on when starting the refuge, having no idea of the ripple of circles spreading out. I see this happening all the time, over and over again. We often don’t realize the little side effects of our “thing” are more the main event than the original “thing” we focused on.

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to share to hopefully encourage your heart in some small way. I’m grateful you are doing it anyway!

I guess I could have just quoted Romans 8:28 which says all of the above in a single sentence, huh? Hugs to you from Vermont.

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