It's interesting to all of a sudden be a part of a new family. To see the dynamics and dysfunction from another angle. To be insider and outsider at the same time. It's really strange to see your little face popping up in all of the family pictures...hey wait? is that me? am I one of the kluge/james clan? Yes, I am. My identity broadens and shrinks all at the same time. All of this...is now a part of me, and yet I am also the loner, the newbie, in a family story that has gone on for centuries. I am part of the story of the Kluge's...just as he is now a part of my story too. It is both warm, and frightening at the same time. Comfortable, and foreign.

I have some thoughts on how this is similar to becoming a Christian, and being adopted into God's family, and becoming a part of his story. But those thoughts are just on the tip of my brain, and I am too fatigued to try and catch up with them.

I am sure you will be hearing from me frequently in the next week as I am off work, and trying to avoid the responsibilites of home and hearth that build up around me with all perservance and sloth-ness that I can muster.