Coming back to Kensington was a convicting reminder of reality. It was hard for me to come back, but not for the reasons you might expect. You might expect that it would be hard because of the cold weather, trash all over the streets, and people everywhere. But this adjustment was convicting for me personally because I saw just how much I prefer to ignore that there are destructive forces at work around us.
As I laid in bed the night after returning I was quickly brought back to the reality of our neighborhood as people argued in the streets, spewing anger and hatred, hurt and despair. Drugs readily being sold, people who are stumbling around drunk - trying to forget, children outside late into the night. I would like to ignore that these are realities for so many people. I would like to live in a place where my husband doesn't get approached by a prostitute on his way to church. Where a police helicopter is not circling over our house just about every night.
But the reason I want to be far away from those things is not because I fear my safety, it is because it is painful to watch people living their lives with secrets from their past slowly destroying them, to see the enemy lying to people whose defenses are weak, and it is painful to hear the immaturity in people fighting because of pride, selfishness, and rage - from an empty way of life handed down to them. In my selfishness I would like to put blinders on more frequently than not and ignore the fact that these things go on - all the time.
So I do live here, and while it is hard to be surrounded with darkness on such an obvious level, I love it. How could I love it? Because this is where God is calling us to live and He has some amazing people in our lives that we can partner with. We can see God working in small ways through individuals and through the love of a church family. God is here. And so we love it.
My life is a constant reminder of the amazing grace that God offers to us. My personal sin is a clear example of that for sure, but we also have the reminder of the depravity of man on our doorstep regularly (and literally) and that brings me to my [proverbial] knees as I consistently recognize man's need for a Savior...a Redeemer.
I am then humbled when I see God moving in people around me. I am involved in a women's Bible Study at our church on Wed. mornings. We are currently going through the Redeeming Ruth series by Mark Driscoll and it is going great! We have a consistent group of about 10 women coming and it has been so encouraging (and challenging) to see God changing and growing hearts...slowly...but clearly. I was moved to tears this week as I told Jonerik about our study and how I saw God using one of our women to reach out to other neighborhood women - putting her faith to action and getting excited about it! If you a woman at Cornerstone and you are reading this...come out to our study! Seek God and you won't be disappointed. If not...please pray that God will continue to use this study to build up women of God in our church and in our neighborhood.
There are some more updates on our current life coming. We are coming into a busy time with the holidays straight ahead. Today we did a Thanksgiving Basket give away at our church and we provided food baskets for over 50 people who are mostly regular attenders of CCC. We will do another give away on Thursday for others in the community (at our regular monthly food cupboard). We are also working on getting a newsletter out soon so keep coming back to the blog and let me know if you would like to receive a newsletter and you aren't already on our list! emily.santiago109@gmail.com
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