Doors Opening and Shutting

We moved to Pontiac 8 years ago after going to a Missions Conference through InterVarsity, Urbana. While we were worried about moving to Pontiac, we loved our house, felt God clearly calling us there, and truly wanted to reach out to the people in Pontiac. We knew it would be challenging as we would have to cross racial, cultural, and socio-economic barriers to make any difference. We also knew that one of the best ways to connect with people is to live where they are.

Eight years later part of me is ashamed of how little we have done. The other part of me is just frustrated with the whole thing and wants to escape just as so many living here do. Even as we can escape into our comfy home, it is still wearing being surrounded by poverty, crime, and brokenness everyday. So often I do just hide in our home wanting to wish us somewhere else. And yet even as I say that we are still striving to make a difference in our neighborhood, even if it just reaches as far as the men, women, and children on our street. We are still praying God uses the our meager efforts to impact his people.

Two years ago a family moved into the rental house two down from us: a single, unemployed mother with 5 children. We have consistently stopped in the summer to talk to them as they sit on their front porch, invited them over, offered repeatedly to help them with homework, brought them food, invited them over for meals, invited them to play in our backyard, changed tires, lent them shovels, rakes, brooms, and even gave them a stroller.  It has been a long process of trying to build trust and any kind of relationship. I even gave them my soup! ;)  (see previous post).

Well FINALLY after two years the kids have actually have been coming over! They have been coming over in fact just about every day to get help on homework for the last few weeks. They have been eating meals with us, hanging out, and having conversations about career dreams, their home situation, school, and church. Of course, I start celebrating and planning out in my heads how we can further witness to and help these children. And then I find out they are MOVING in 2 weeks to Chapter 8 housing. GRRR!!!!

This is exactly what happened with our previous 2-3 neighbors. We worked forever building the relationship, were having great conversations about God, and then they moved too!  Sometimes I just don't get God's plan. We clearly can't move and so I try to focus on what we can do here and now where God has us. Yet when we seek to do his will while we are here, they MOVE right after we spend forever building trust and relationships. What are you having us do, God? I just don't get it.

Even as I write all this I find myself clinging to the hope that God calls us to plant the seeds and help others, and He is the one that makes them grow. God is SOVEREIGN and he will have his will be done for all of his people, even these kids. For now, we will continue our tutoring and conversations for the next two weeks. After that we will continue to cover them in prayer as they move forward to a new home.  Prayers for this family, the conversations we have in the little time we have left, and for God to continue to use us according to his good purposes would be greatly appreciated!