"2 BY 2"

No sooner had I posted the article on Bittersweet Farms in Ohio than I received this one about the L'Arche community in Tacoma, Washington. Residents maintain a farm, create and sell products at local farmer's markets, and engage in meaningful relationships. They are a family group committed to a simple life and conscious of spirituality. Why does this ring a bell? After a bit of research and head tapping, I remembered. L'Arche is the place that inspired several of Henri Nouwen's books (one of which I read years ago before my interest in autism). He is one of the fathers of contemplative spirituality. While living with people with developmental disabilities, Nouwen's understanding of service, relationship, connectedness, faith and Christ-likeness was redefined. He writes about how he benefited from their presence.

L'Arche is an international network of 133 communities founded by Jean Vanier in France in 1964. The journal of Nouwen's year at L’Arche Trosly is captured in The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey. Another book, Adam, God's Beloved, is an inspiring account of how his life was transformed through friendship with a core member of the L'Arche Daybreak community in Toronto. I love the empowerment and inclusion that is integral to their philosophy; they are intentional about creating mutually beneficial relationship and developing the unique gifts of each individual. Amen to that! The L'Arche story is told in depth in this excellent 14 minute interview.

L'Arche means "the ark" in French. My license plates have read "2 BY 2" since my kids were a year old. The selection of these vanity plates is a triple entendre. I'm not sure the average passerby gets any of the three references. More than once, men have chuckled and commented on my plates thinking I am making an anti-4-wheeler statement, as if to say, "Awww that's cute...she only has 2-wheel drive." Little do they know, it referred to the lovely picture book we read every night at bedtime, Twins: Two by Two by Catherine and Laurence Anholt. Their whimsical illustrations of boy and girl twins (like ours) show them role playing various species: crocodiles splashing in the bathroom, kangaroos jumping into bed, and mice all curled up asleep. Memories...!

The 2 BY 2 plates were also a more overt reference to Noah's ark in celebration of our babies arriving as a pair. Our vehicle was decked with double car seats and life felt suddenly like an epic adventure. As it was for those boarding Noah's ark, we distinctly felt that God was intervening in Allie and Reid's lives. He was lifting them, as it were, through adoption, from one setting to quite another for reasons they could not understand.

Thirdly, 2 BY 2 is a Biblical reference to the way Jesus sent out his disciples. Never alone, always in pairs, they were sent to spread the good news. It continues to comfort me to know we are not alone either in whatever task he calls us to do.

So, the L'Arche concept resonates on many levels. Is there one near you? Has anyone had personal experience with L'Arche?


"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and send them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go." Luke 10:1-3


"...they went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. Genesis 7:8-10


"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Matthew 5:4-6

photo credit: www.larche.org; www.anholt.co.uk

Working at Home in Ohio

What a dignified, empowering, and productive concept. Bittersweet Farms is an 80-acre working farm in rural Ohio (my home state). Working the land and calling it home are adults with autism. Recognized nationally, Bittersweet Farms also provides consultation to others wanting to replicate their model. An article in the Toledo Blade chronicles its success and a book was written about Bittersweet as well.

In Vermont a similar place called INSPIRE was featured in the news here.

I watched a fairly depressing documentary this summer called Her Name is Sabine. I don't exactly recommend it because I prefer more hopeful stories. However, I mention it because Sabine ends up in a bucolic group home with caring people that looks as sweet as Bittersweet. The pity is that before arriving there she has been victim to all manner of mistreatment and damage.

We all need work to do. Work gives us purpose and a sense of importance. Some local homeschooling guru pointed out that when you get right down to basics, all kids really need is something to love, something to think about, and something to do. When I initially heard that, we got a dog. And, re-vamped the chore chart. Reid is more cooperative and pleasant (therefore so are we) the afternoons he is busiest. Homework, piano lessons, band practice, and garbage night keep him on track. Those days actually go smoother than the days when he has free time. I have come to loath 3 day weekends with nothing on the calendar, let alone summer, when free time abounds. I associate them with the inevitable breakdown, meltdown, and video stimming that is a downward spiral for our family. On the Escalation Cycle page of his Behavior Intervention Plan, at the very top is "down time." Unstructured time is the primary antecedent of his battery of negative behaviors. Now, do you see why I over-program family reunions? It's a good thing Jim and I are both Achievers so we can keep up with this. Incidentally, so is Reid.

It will indeed be bittersweet when our kids move out of the house. I am not sure what that will look like for either of them but I like to keep a few ideas in my back pocket. Does anyone have firsthand knowledge of these places? In the meantime, we have work to do.




Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Ecclesiastes 11:5-7


As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. John 9:3-5


May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:16-17


"Go to the ant...observe her ways and be wise...having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest." Proverbs 6:6