dinner saturday night

Saturday night we had dinner with some dear friends of mine from San Jose. I've known Kristen for 14 years, and worked with her in loving high school kids for 8 of those years. She's like my big sister, and lives in an very nice part of San Jose known as Willow Glen. Behind the million dollar homes and neatly manicured yards lies pain like you find anywhere; like you find visually apparent in inner cities. As we were talking about the wounds in Kristen's neighbor's lives, the alcholism, the inability to handle fundamental life skills, I was once again reminded that we need not elevate one particular place as having more plight or more opportunity for kingdom living over another. It's a matter of sensibilities, taste and life space. In some respect where we feel most at home is the most condusive place to live it out. The place where we can spend little time building bridges that enable us to love those around us; so we have the most time to actually love those around. Finding the place where we are most "native" frees us to love just by being who God created us to be.