Walk a Mile in Another Man's Shoes...

As I Am

"Stripped Bare" : A reminder when love and vulnerability gets hard

This is WATER

It's amazing what a little grace can do...

“Then He told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.” Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” 

-2 Corinthians 12:9 The Message

As I sit here writing you all, I can hardly believe a full year in Bellflower as a Fellow has already come and gone. So much life has occurred, countless mistakes have been made, and dare I say some lessons learned. As much as I’d love to delve into story upon story tied into my journey as a Community Fellow, let me instead share with you one word that typified my year: GRACE. Up until this year, grace was this amazing little word that had somehow lost its significance in my life. I think it’s because there is something about it that I don’t want to need. As I have rubbed shoulders with my neighborhood kids, I find myself desiring to be sufficient, cool enough, relevant enough on my own. What this desire produced in my life was toxic. It created an inward-looking lens. As I lived and worked in my neighborhood, I was quickly caught up in the gravity of the brokenness surrounding me, and my personal inability to do much of anything to alleviate it. That’s when things felt hopeless. The good news is that this Gospel and His GRACE changes things. This year I have learned the importance of daily coming to terms with our lack, and weakness, in order that we might realize the greatness and goodness of God. By experiencing His grace anew myself, I have had the privilege of realizing some of the fruit that grace can bear in relationships. God meets us right where we are, right in the middle of our deficiencies and says, “ENOUGH! Aren’t I enough?” It is through that grace I have learned to be present with my neighbor, and see them for who they are and whose they are, not what they aren’t. I think that’s Asset Based Community Development or something, go figure. J Slowly but surely I’m starting to get the hang of it. I eagerly look forward to what God has in store as I continue journeying and learning in my neighborhood here on Eucalyptus, one grace dependent step at a time…

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near.” -Mark 1:15

The past 7 months here on Eucalyptus have been nothing short of a whirlwind, a really, really good one. That’s not to say there haven’t been bumps, sharp turns or even minor crashes along the way. Last June, I moved in here on Eucalyptus Ave. with a guy named Kris Cohen. (he's barely tolerable because he's a Biola grad...) We were wide-eyed and eager to explore what God had in store for us. I had no idea what to expect, or what it would feel or look like to consciously choose to follow God into this neighborhood. Now in the midst of the rhythms of life here, I just might have more questions now than when this experience began; like what does growth and the Gospel look like as it takes hold in our relationships with the neighborhood teens who come over for a meal and Bible study? What does love look like when someone is doing something harmful to themselves like using drugs or excessively drinking alcohol? How do we speak God’s truth into hurting relationships around us? One thing I do know, and am confident in. It is that God knows, and He’s always known. That’s “Good News,” for me, my neighborhood, and this city! God is in the business of redemption and restoration of wholeness. No, things are not as they should be, but God is moving. His Kingdom is, and will continue to advance here on my block. It blows my mind that God includes, commissions and WANTS us to take part! God is so good. Pray God will give us vision and wisdom as we seek Him moving forward!

Wooden Heart

click here for Listener "Wooden Heart"

Needed to be reminded of this today.

How do I (best) love my neighbor?

"One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these."
-Mark 12:28-31

How do I (best) love my neighbor?

This is a question that has come to the forefront of my mind over and over in the past months of life on Eucalyptus. I remember the first weeks in the neighborhood being an introductory honeymoon period… Kris and I were the new kids on the block. Starting out, I think we were happy just to seek out acceptance from the neighborhood kids that came by our place on Wednesday nights for a church sponsored meal. In a new place with a new culture, it was quite the adjustment, but exactly what I signed up for. 

 I have long felt a conviction to learn what it means to love my neighbors next door and the Fellows program finally left me out of excuses. Over the course of these first three months, it has been a journey as these new relationships are being built and grown.  It has been a crash course in learning about myself, and how to best use my understanding of self in relationship to my neighbors. It has also confronted me with the depth of our depravity and our great need for God’s restoration. As I have gotten to know the stories of my neighbors and have spent more time with the kids on Eucalyptus, I have hurt with and for them and the ever-present brokenness in our community and all of us. Brokenness of; crumbling families, harmful relationships, over-sexualization by the media, and abuse of various drugs. There have been days that have been full of joy and hope, and day that have felt empty and near hopeless, and I feel at a loss for how to help or what next steps to take.  But if I believe the gospel to be true, I can have faith and trust that God has been longing to restore rightness to these relationships long before I have, and is already working to redeem and reconcile this brokenness. Now it’s our job as Christians to get involved in that process and to love well! 

Seems simple right?

Loving is so hard, and love hurts. Loving well takes wisdom and perspective, wisdom and perspective that we as humans cannot possess on our own. Pray along with us as we seek God’s wisdom and direction, and continue to live in community with our neighbors, doing our best to love, continually longing for His redemption and healing to come, right here amongst us.