“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…
