south chicago

We spent the day yesterday in the community in which Emily lived this past year. I love it! It reminds me a lot of the community I work in at home.

People, no matter where they live, who have few economic resources, have a more difficult time. But the urban environment brings different challenges…it has made me more tired than I was to begin with.

I sat on Em’s stoop, one afternoon, and watched a young mother with five small children as they struggled to get their baskets of clothes down the steep stairs, to get them to the washeteria. How I would love being able to give her my washer and dryer, that I am disposing of because PawPaw is giving me a used one from Mike’s house. Think how much she would enjoy having that in her home…something I take for granted.

Then there’s public transportation…the network of buses and trains that enables inhabitants of the sprawled city to move about. I just rode and hopped off at my destinations….but I am sore, have blisters on my feet, and dread hitting the schedule again today. If you want to go somewhere, you have to drag in and out of various modes of travel, above and below the ground. What if I had several children to drag with me?

I also think of the logistics of feeding a large family in the urban environment. It would be so difficult to gather the supplies you need to prepare food…walking…stairs…buses…more walking and stairs…. Like I said…it just makes me tired.

Later, we found ourselves on the “Magnificent Mile”…it’s a long way from South Chicago. ..as is Starbuck’s, Mercedes convertibles, and Ophrah’s favorite things…and my place in rural Texas.

This comparison makes me want to do a better job in the place God has placed me in our small community. It doesn’t matter if I live in South Chicago or South Nacogdoches or near the Magnificient Mile…I have the opportunity to share my blessings with others. What a great privilege!

I Corinthians 16:14 (The Message)

“ Keep your eyes open, …, give it all you've got, be resolute, and love without stopping.”

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