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!