DSCN1417I’m Melissa and I spend my days rocking out with my daughter who was born in August of 08. We live in Northern Virginia with Jacob, the husband/dad and two doting grandparents.

I graduated from Gordon College in 2002 and went on to a Masters in Religion at Duke University. I’ve also studied theology and ancient languages at the University of Portland, Oxford University, Daystar University, Jerusalem University College, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, either as non-degree or study-abroad.

One of the most important pieces of my theological formation was investing my life in L’Arche Nehalem, a community of men and women with and without intellectual disabilities who commit to life together in the spirit of Jesus’ Beatitudes. We were a part of the L’Arche community for almost 4 years. My primary scholarly interest flows from this experience and I hope someday to look at the theological outworking of centering the disabled in the church’s practices, particularly that of baptism.

I named our blog after a Bob Dylan song by the same name off the “New Morning” album. It’s decidedly unlike our lives but maybe some day. Here’s a line…

“Build me a cabin in Utah,
Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout,
Have a bunch of kids who call me “Pa,”
That must be what it’s all about,
That must be what it’s all about.