broken lawn furniture

In moving into the city, I have had a lot of lawn furniture broken, a lot of basketballs stolen, and a lot of litter on my property. There have been gunshots, a murder, five streetfights, a small riot, car accidents at our corner, my son has been punched in the face numerous times... not to mention some of the dogs...

there was a dogfight about two weeks back that was the most violent thing I may have ever witnessed personally. It was horrifying to see this mastiff, loose, attacking this shepherd/wolf mix, on a chain. I thought the chained dog would die. There was no pulling them apart.

"Curly" was alright. A little stiff, a little meaner, still chained.

And life here is "safer" to me than elsewhere. Here, I live in a daily workshop of mercy and service. We daily have a troop of folks eating at our table, using the first floor, hoop, backyard, to live and love each other...

My sons will never be racist, never see kids by color. They will never shy from people with accents. They will never shun foreign foods, nor will they turn hospitality from the needy. They miss out on the official "Sunday School" experience, but have JP, Chris, Prari, and so many others reading scripture to them and their friends, teaching them the ways of the Lord. These people are living examples of faith in action. Haiti, Kenya, Mexico, are only a few of the places they have gone to share the Love of Jesus. But the most important place they've gone is "nowhere". They're right here, daily, in the streets, loving our neighbors.

this is the bread, to me...