Where do you call home these days—and what does community look like for you there?
Our family recently moved to Watertown, Connecticut. We live on the campus of a boarding school that serves 600 high school students from around the country and around the globe. We are slowly forming relationships at a local church and in our local community as well as at the school where we live. I’m finding forming community as an adult with teenagers to be a heavier lift than it was when they were younger and we all stood on the sidelines and had play dates together!
What’s a moment when you’ve seen love between people change a situation, a team, or a relationship?
It’s hard for me not to answer this question by thinking back to the birth of our first child, our daughter Penny. Penny was diagnosed with Down syndrome a few hours after she was born, and at first we wondered whether love was enough to sustain our family in the midst of all the uncertainty and fear of an unexpected diagnosis. But the love we had for Penny did more than sustain us. It changed us. That love opened us up to an expansive world of people who seemed different from us—people with intellectual disabilities—and who actually helped us understand human community and common identity. Through Penny and other people with intellectual disabilities, we’ve been invited to understand our own belovedness and our own neediness. We’ve been welcomed into an experience of vulnerability and giftedness and a new way of being in this world.
What helps you stay open to loving others when life or ministry feels demanding?
Somewhat ironically, perhaps, I am most able to stay open to loving others when I withdraw from them and spend time with the Lord. I’m an early riser, and even in the busiest seasons, I’m able to spend some time reading the Bible, journaling, and sitting in the peace and love of God’s presence. Without those moments, I find myself quickly depleted of love.
When the church truly lives out “one another,” what kind of impact do you think becomes possible?
If and when the church believes that every one of us has something to offer and each of us has needs, we will become places that disrupt the typical social hierarchy. We will become shelters of belonging. Experiencing this different way of being on a regular basis then moves out of the Sunday school classroom and sanctuary into the coffee shops and schools and workplaces in our community, and we begin to glimpse the kingdom of God
among us. We have the impact of inviting people to rest in the love of God, slow down to the pace of love, and welcome one another with love.
What do you like to bring to the potluck?
I love the comfort foods I usually find at a good potluck, but I usually feel like my meal is lacking in vegetables. So I’m that person who brings a big green salad. My favorite includes mango, red pepper, avocado, goat cheese, and toasted slivered almonds with balsamic vinaigrette!
