The Next Day Part 1

Continued from 2 previous posts… The Word Became Flesh…. AND ….and Moved into the Neighborhood.

Needless to say, I went on to work the next day…until mid afternoon when the kids were coming home from school.  I SOOO wanted and needed to check on Anthony and Lil Mike to make sure they were OK.  God blessed us with a beautiful day!  A few things happened that afternoon….

One – My mom met me here.  She just wanted to lay eyes on me and pray.  I SOOO appreciate the many, many prayers that were offered up on our behalf!

Two – Lil Mike and Tony were fine!  Those kids totally were amazing and so strong.

Three – The community also was wonderful!  Frank had grown up in the Southern Barton Heights area, so he was well-known and loved by a lot of people.  Since it was a beautiful day, I was putzing around in the front yard…with my plants, etc.  The kids had always loved and welcomed me into the community, but many of  the adults didn’t quite know what to do with me.  Didn’t know what I was all about or why I moved into SBH.  That day, I met more neighbors than I had in the last couple of years.  People intentionally stopped by to thank me (and Louis) and to ask about Frank.  It was an opportunity to not only meet people, but also share what God had done that night.  It was a time to pray and encourage Frank’s friends.  I had gained a “street cred” that I didn’t have before.

People shared what they did when they heard the shots.  The natural instinct of living in the inner city, crime infested area is to run away (if you were on the street), hide in your closet, jump in your bathtub, lock your doors, brace the door with a chair under the doorknob (should the shooter try to run into the house).  Yet, Louis and I ran into the street into the fray.  We never thought to do anything else.  We were Called to be there and to respond.

I often wonder what we would do now.  Hopefully we won’t have to find out!!!  We hear gunshots all the time….but thankfully from a distance.  Needless to say, we were a bit gun-shy (no pun intended!) for a while after that.  Late one night we heard a gunshot fairly close.  Louis and I looked outside, but didn’t see anything to respond to.  But, we quickly shut and locked the door.  A little later our door bell rang.  Normally, I didn’t think twice about opening it.  That night we did…we just yelled through the door.  My heart pounded in my chest.  I realized that I was more traumatized than I realized.   By the way…it was just someone telling us that Louis had left the inside light of his car on.  It took a few days before we realized that we trusted God that night, and we can still trust God now.  That we must use wisdom, but we could no longer live in fear.  God healed me of that.

That day…when I sat outside talking to people, I heard their stories…everyone had one, two, three friends that had been shot~ injured and killed.  Some had been shot themselves.  I can’t even imagine WHAT this must do to you after years…how it must impact the kids who grow up here.  For I have the HOPE in me….and it sometimes is tough.  What about those who don’t know the Lord?  Many may ask…why don’t they move?  Why do they stay?  Why don’t they just pack up and move some place safe. Let me caution you (and me for that that matter!) about judging these wonderful inner city dwellers! Remember what the Word says about judging.  Matthew 7:1-2, Luke 6:37 and John 12:47, to name a few scriptures, speak to this directly.

to be continued….