House in Suburbia, married, +/-2.5 kids, double (or one really big) income.  Normal?  Yep.  Seems like almost every message out there--even amid those who talk about God's kingdom--says that this vision is, really, the end game.  And reality is, there is nothing wrong and much right with this norm.  As a matter of fact, I've wanted it, and Bob and Ronda (my visiting friends/ministry colleagues and potential long term housemates) have gotten it.

    There are tremendous upsides to this normal.  Think about God's favorite metaphors:  the Scriptures constantly refer to His marriage to us, His family, and His dwelling place.  Jesus is going to prepare a place for us, his bride, and he speaks in terms of wedding banquets and mansions.  To disparage these earthly realities would verge on disparaging some of the very means of God's self-disclosure.

     But as Bob and Ronda contemplate moving here--even into the home where another couple and I live--to team together in intentionally caring for one another & reaching out to those around us, we've been thinking a lot about "normal."  Normally, 50+ year old empty nesters don't leave their beautiful Ann Arbor cottages to move into a group living situations in preppy and powerful Northern Virginia.  And 44 year old single women who think they want to marry don't commit to stay planted in even limited partnerships with non-husbands.

    We've realized, though, that sometimes the kingdom of God might look & feel, well...abnormal.  And this is a tough pill because, for all our talk about "advancing the gospel," each of us secretly wants this kingdom to "advance" around the givens of our respective versions of the American Dream.  We want the kingdom to come, but in our heart of hearts, each of us wants this Kingdom Dream on terms that seem & feel, well, normal.

    So the three of us are experimenting with a new (to us) prayer:  "God, may your kingdom come and your will be done, even if it feels a little weird... even if sometimes it hurts... even if it costs me some aspect of the American Dream."  We don't know how God will answer this prayer, but sitting in our respective khakis, cable knit sweaters, & REI outerwear, we are choosing to believe that achieving the American Dream--an idol perhaps whose pursuit has led many into endless financial housing woes or grave disappointment that the nuclear family didn't "work" as it was supposed to--is secondary to the coming of the kingdom.

    We know that so many are ahead of us in this journey--both around the world and here in the U.S.  But, with God's help, we want to practice believing (and living out the reality) that intimacy with Him, familial ties with His people (those who know him now and those who don't yet), and an eternity spent in His household really is the goal.  If our lives look like the American Dream, great!  We all 3 cherish family ties & great architecture.  But if not, so be it.  We want to be people who can risk believing in our heart of hearts that the Kingdom Dream really is the end game--whatever that might look or feel like.