We’re Moving

A long time ago, a youth leader of mine talked to me about the “ministry of absence.” He was thinking about the way youth ministers tended to think they needed to be involved in every aspect of kids’ lives. But he remembered being at camp and watching a married couple walk away from him, hand in hand, to spend time together. For him, as the child of divorced parents, seeing two adults intentionally take time away was a witness of love and faithfulness that their presence couldn’t have been.

I think it’s probably a stretch to try to turn the next few weeks into a ministry of absence. But it’s a good story, and perhaps a good introduction to what will be a slower month than usual here at Thin Places.

Today we move, for the sixth time in three years. And for the final time, Lord willing, for many years to come. I’m sure there are spiritual principles to offer from the experience, but right now I’m just excited to land in a home in a relatively permanent way. As it happens, we move one week before Marilee and William have two weeks off from school. Helpful as they want to be (see photo), they don’t exactly increase my productivity during their hours of play.

So, as a result of moving and four days of vacation with my husband (hooray!) and two weeks of kind-of-vacation with two of our kids, I’m not going to be blogging much this month. Oh, and I had really hoped to have a book proposal completed last week. It still needs the finishing touches…

I have a few guest posts waiting to run elsewhere, and I’ll be sure to link to them here. I have a two part radio interview with Family Life Radio next week, and I’ll announce that here as well. I will feature a guest post from Rachel Marie Stone as well as a reflection on my new ebook. And I’m hoping to feature some international perspectives on Down syndrome as guest posts as we approach World Down Syndrome Day (March 21). (Peter, by the way, thinks I should push this great idea off until next year–I’d love to feature someone from each continent, but right now might not be the right moment to canvas the globe.)

All this is to say–I don’t plan to write anything original for this blog until April, but I hope you’ll continue to check in and comment. I’m sure I’ll have some good stories to tell this spring.