The ankle is feeling much better...

... thanks for asking!

I was even able to go out for a short walk with Molly in the pram yesterday- only about 20mins but it's better than nothing!

I thought I'd post a letter I wrote to my family and friends at the beginning of the year about the community we live in and how we are involved- this was nearly a year ago so some things have changed, but all in all it's a pretty good wrap-up!

Hi All!

A happy 2008 to everyone!

I thought I'd give a brief rundown on what's going on for us this year as I haven't seen many of you and and you may be out of the loop! Firstly, our new address is ..deleted.. and our new home phone number is .. deleted...(mezz and byron's old number- had to keep it as it is also the business number).

We are so excited to have moved to Footscray! An exciting, vibrant community, filled with diversity and colour but also a lot of sadness (drug and alcohol addiction, racial tensions, loneliness, poverty etc) to which we have chosen to respond. Not by simple charity (which is useful but can be limited and impersonal) but by moving in and standing in solidarity with those who will hopefully become friends to us. This is what Jesus did and what we will try our best to do.

We live with Mezz (John's sister), Byron and Felix in a lovely big house with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and 3 LIVING ROOMS!! How amazing is that!?? Very important to have your own space. We also have a lovely (albeit charmingly old and crusty) kitchen which is in a central location and is in the middle of the hussle and bussle of the rest of the house- which makes cooking a pleasure!

I am looking forward to the year beginning as far as our community involvement goes. Some of the small ways we will be involved include the community garden at droop street (tuesday gardening), visiting James Barker house (for ex- alcoholic men) for a chat with the guys, Wednesday community dinner at Droop St, House church at the leasurely start time of 10:30 for a shared breakfast on Sundays, hopefully finding a job in Footscray, maybe getting involved in some of the local schools and just basically being present and available to make new friendships and community connections.

We have just celebrated Molly's 1st birthday (I know... a YEAR!!) and are having a wonderful time watching her grow and learn. She has taken 8 steps on her own and is saying many words clearly. She is just beginning to string words together like "Oh no!" and "No more"... We are so proud of her! We are also very excited that she will get to experience what living in real community and learning to love people despite their differences is like.

Love and blessings,
Ash, John and Molly


We also have some key principals we try to live by which I will find and post about in future...