the end of an era

Many of you may remember when I posted this to give my readers a glimpse into our preparation for communal living. Well, two years later I am happy to say that this experience has been one of the best ones I have ever had. Many wonder if a group of married and single adults can live together under one roof. They can. And it can be really rewarding.
The past two years have been a time of great growth for me. Communal living is not easy and requires lots of time and energy poured into the relationships where you live. I feel like the first year was a bit house focused. We had a lot of kinks to work through... a lot of roles to figure out. Who am I in this mix of people and what do I have to offer? Why is everyone asking me all these questions about my life? I'd say it was a good first year, but definitely not as good as the second year.
A little over a year ago David pulled the BBQ onto the front sidewalk and invited all of our neighbors- I think almost everyone stopped by, but many stayed until dark to hang out. This was a pivotal moment in the mission of our house. A need was expressed from our neighbors for community. They wanted to do a potluck together every week! So for the past year every Thursday we have had our neighbors in our home for a community meal. It has been so special. And I am really gonna miss it.
This past year all of the mates in this house have really come out of their shells. The walls of privacy began to slowly fall and our lives were openly shared with one another. Tears of joy and sadness were openly shared. We were able to endure some really tough stuff... Three grandparents died while living in this house, three pregnancies have happened here- one of which didn't come without some scares. New relationships have started here- Scott found the woman of his dreams, and Micah is now dating an incredible woman from Ann Arbor named Jess. The boys really only know living in this house full of people who love, adore, and take care of them. The list of life experiences that happen among 8 people in two years goes on and on and on.
I'd say the biggest answer to prayer and proof of the Lord's faithfulness was my relationship with Leigh. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges in communal living is the relationships among women. We can be sort of territorial. Also, she was working and I was home. She didn't have kids. I do. She likes things really really clean and orderly, I am a little messy. ;) I can say with a bit of confidence that if we had gone to the same high school or college we probably wouldn't have been friends. By no means would we have been enemies. We just would've been into totally opposite things (I think). But our husbands became good friends and then we moved in together!! With great prayer and hope God renewed a friendship within us that really grew over the past year. Leigh actually loves a lot of the same things I do. Some of our greatest times were leaving the boys (little and big!) and heading off to dinner and a movie, or pedicures, or shopping. We had some great times just doing girly girl stuff. Also we became stronger sisters in the Lord- praying for one another and caring for one anther's spiritual well being.
So by the title and because you probably know what's going on in our lives you also know that Chris and Leigh moved back to Grand Rapids last week. Both their families live in Grand Rapids and they are having a baby that they want to be near family.
When you spend as much time as we did with others you begin to really love them and they become a very significant part of your life. It was really difficult for me to let them go. I kept hoping they would stay in Detroit and buy a house near us. ;) But one of the things I know about life is that you have to let people go, even when it hurts.
I have no idea what kind of relationship we will have with Chris and Leigh over the years... I hope way stay intimately connected, but I don't know what will happen. At any rate I will never forget the two years we did communal living with a group of random people in a place that God made holy and a light for others to see.