Living Right Here, Right Now.

Yesterday something happened that reminded me of the importance of living in this neighborhood. Our church follows the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) model for ministry. There are three things that are essential to christian community development:

- Relocation - living in the community so that the issues become "our" problems and successes instead of just "yours".

- Redistribution - working toward justice for all people regardless of their race or status.

- Reconciliation - people to God and people to each other.

Yesterday I saw again why relocation is so important. I was locking up the church building after a group of volunteers helped clean it when I noticed a woman in a wheelchair in our parking lot. Because I was here and was walking to my home, I got to meet her, hear her story and pray with her. She's going through a rough time right now and I hope that yesterday she realized that God loves her.

I love this neighborhood. The people here are so open. It is so encouraging to be able to spread God's love just by walking home. This neighborhood is helping me learn what community really looks like. It's messy and inconvient and it doesn't fit in a program or time frame, but it's good and encouraging and I think this is how we are supposed to live.

What I found on my wall

A nail in the wall in our apartment:


I wonder what was going through the person's mind as they were trying to hang the picture that hung on this nail. Were they thinking that it wouldn't be that hard? When they realized that it was crooked, did they think that they could just put the nail a little lower? Did they lose their level? Were they super frustrated with their wife who couldn't decide where they wanted the picture? How many curse words were said when putting this nail in?

Either way it entertains me!

Drama

Sigh. There have been about a million things to blog about and I haven't had time to just sit and write for a while. The big news is that I love being here! Yeah, our neighborhood is a little rough, but it's a seriously fun place to live.

What I don't like is our landlord drama. We are currently depositing our rent with the county until he makes the repairs he needs to make. We have no idea what happened to him. He hasn't been by to pick up our neighbor's rent, our certified mail to him has gone unclaimed and he's changed his phone number. Our water was almost shut off because it hasn't been paid since February and it took Ben talking to several people at the city to keep it on. He didn't show up for the mediation appointment we had and he hasn't returned anyone's calls. We have no idea what's going on.

What I do know is that I am getting tired of washing my clothes at a laundry mat when I have a washer right in my basement. I'm ready to find a new place....

So Ben got our internet working... kind of... and we realized why we got such a deal on it. It's slower than dial up. Like seriously it's slow. You can't watch hulu, forget loading a web-page with animations or sound, and be prepared to wait an hour just to get the phone company's web-site to load. This speed shouldn't even be called broadband. So we got sucked in and had to upgrade to the normal priced plan and we still have a one year contract. Grrr.

New Home

We still don't have working phone lines, which means we still don't have working internet, which means I have to come down to the church office to get my internet fix. It sucks.

We moved into a place where most people try to move away from. It's a neighborhood of police sirens, fights in the park and broken homes. There's trash everywhere and everything is run down. We can't use our washing machine because someone poured cement down the pipes. There's a feeling of hopelessness here that's evident in the surrondings.

But our neighborhood is full of some of the most friendliest people I have ever met. Everyone sits out on the porch because they don't have A/C and everyone knows everyone. I can walk down my street and introduce myself to anyone and have a conversation. The church here is respected and a part of the community. The kids here go out of their way to spend time with Ben and me. Just this past week we had some events for the local kids and there are some great kids that live here. So much potential!

I am excited to live in this neighborhood. These people are loved by God and He has a plan for their lives. I just hope that Ben and I get to be a part of it...

We're in Ohio now. And we are staying busy. And are fighting with our landlord to get basic things like working phone jacks and outlets working. More later....

Two days to go....

I quit my job today. Ok so maybe I quit it two weeks ago - but today was my last day. There were maybe some tears.

We move in TWO DAYS!!! We finally have everything from the apartment to the utilities to the moving crew figured out. By moving crew I mean our family and friends. Who like to spend their days moving our stuff and getting paid in Pizza. These people are hard to find. If you are one of them I promise that we we be organized. We won't be packing while you wait for us to finish so you can walk that box to the truck. We'll have everything in boxes when you get here and will have and a plan on how to load it all up. Please show up on Saturday. I whine a lot if I have to carry a couch.

We are trying really hard not to buy anything until we are sure that we ABSOLUTELY need it. Because moving that extra bar of soap may be the thing that pushes us over the edge. It may be the item that causes all of the moving truck's tires to explode. It may be the item that causes the box to go from heavy to TOO HEAVY. I'm not sure why, but it is super important that we wait to buy that soap until we get to Ohio. Also it's kind of fun to use the soap we brought back from the hotel. It's like every day is a vacation. A vacation where you go to work and you pack up stuff when you get home.

Since we aren't buying anything it means that we are making like a million trips to the store to buy things. I refused to grocery shop - because we needed to eat what we have at home. So instead we've been to the grocery every day this week. It's a fun and European way to live. We only buy fresh peanut butter at the market every day. Everyone should do this. I think it may extend your life. Which reminds me that I need to get paper towels....