starting to settle in...

This post is being entered from Flatlanders, where we live. huh. how d'ya like that?!??! It does seem strange to be embarking on a year of inner city living/serving.. we just came from the rural, open prairies, and when we moved there a short two years ago, we thought we'd be there for the long term. Funny how life is like that, hey?

a few randoms:

• our kids are so great. They are still adolescents, they forget their manners, they demonstrate bad attitude.. but overall, they've been through the wringer this past year, and they're still smiling. Laughing, even. We are incredibly blessed.
• speaking of great.. our week at Nutimik was awesome. We stayed in a YURT, which was especially heavenly because it rained quite a bit while we were there. But mostly, the family time was the reason for the great little holiday. So much laughter, so many silly pranks .. I don't even mind being the butt of most of the jokes! The most memorable thing was the skunk who opened our cooler and stole the two items on top; leftover Pizza bush pies, and a full package of raw farmer sausage. (had to get Winkler sausage after the two year hiatus.. although Bren claims Hague's is better..) (Our hobo dinners were almost vegetarian as a result of the hijacking!) When we looked for our food, we thought we'd been robbed by hungry campers, since we thought an animal would surely have disturbed the area near the cooler if they had been there. But the wrappers were in the bush, still being devoured by our striped neighbor! Unbelievable. Lesson: when the campground posts notices about not leaving your cooler unattended, they really mean it!
• pics of our place etc will follow. Still no sign of the camera supplies...

a closing note; we went on a quick ride around our neighborhood tonight, just to get a feel for the friday night activities. We saw a lot of prostitutes, and many circling vehicles checking out the action. So we prayed.

For this neighborhood and the people who live here, we prayed something like this: God of love, this community is so clearly hurting. The people who live here, while often filled with joy and laughter, seem to often turn to unhealthy things when they are stressed or in difficult circumstances. Replace the brokenness with wholeness. Fill those empty spaces with beauty, love, the things that are most like you. You know the deepest reasons for poverty. Help those who can do something to see a way to influence. Cure people of complacency and powerlessness. We pray that the crime and violence would stop.

For ourselves, we prayed something like this: God of love, you created so much that is good, yet we are seeing so much that is not good. Bring down barriers we may have that could hinder us from loving and serving in ways that honor you. We are from so much privilege, and we are just blind to so much. Grow genuine understanding in our confused hearts. Teach us about love and justice.