Baby Girl

She has arrived!

Yesterday morning Sierra gave birth to her sweet little baby girl Nevaeh around 5am. Mama is doing well, baby girl is having some difficulty breathing & is in ICU. Hopefully will be coming home in a few days. Sierra is coming home in the morning but unfortunately has to leave Nevaeh at Norwegian American Hospital for a bit longer to get healthy & strong!

Please keep them in your prayers as they transition back home. Life here will be a little different now with a newborn around although we are looking forward to learning to love the baby just as much as we have come to love everyone else downstairs thus far! Sierra starts back highschool in a few weeks so also please pray she will be well enough to go & focus.

Thanks so much!

Go in peace

Here we grow---

Experiencing Beauty from Ashes in the most tangible way.

The past week at the garden has been so incredible. Showing up one afternoon after work to find 3 zucchinis ready to take home!

From garden to table. What an amazing feeling to pick a fresh vegetable from a seed that I planted in the ground, then bring it home, cut it up and cook it to serve to my community house. God is so cool.

Then going back on Wednesday to find a few more. It is so incredible to look at the pictures as the process of growth has occurred. Sometimes if we dont keep a close eye we can miss change even if it is in a small way.

Also spotted my first cantaloupe growing!!

This is the cantaloupe & pumpkin bed that is growing out of control! Next to it on the right are the cucumbers.

Just 5 weeks ago, the same garden bed.

That is how I feel about our house, our building, the neighborhood. If we dont keep rejoicing & looking back on moments that we have grown from then we might miss the experience.
Its been only 6 weeks now that we have been living in E. Garfield Park.
None of us can believe that is it! Seems like we've been there for a long while considering how well we have gotten to know the families in our building thus far. We are so in love with them.
Now that we've had time to establish some traditions with them such as reading together at night, happy & sads of the day, sharing meals, eating healthy snacks, playing outside & staying active, & we are also endeavoring on the difficult journey of teaching non violent conflict resolution (this is tough!)

Bedtime stories

This past week the little kids in our building started school! I drove Mikala to school a few mornings since their mom Minesha has to work so early in the mornings.
Mikala just started Kindergarten & is so precious!! We really love her, Pamela (who just started pre-K) and their older sister Sierra who has become a dear friend of ours! Still waiting on her little baby to arrive, she is due any day now.

Mikala in her adorable little Kindergarten uniform. I love taking her to school :)

Sierra was watching a movie with us last night & we were laughing over how she can set her plate on her pregnant belly. Adorable.
She is going to be a great momma.

Sunday evening we hosted house church at our place. This is also a new endeavor that a few friends & I are launching called In the Garden Ministries.
Yesterday night Malissa & I taught on Isaiah 2-6. We have spent the past month of our get togethers in Isaiah. It just seems like God keeps bringing us back to that and we are learning so much through studying together, communion, common prayers, & shared meals.
Last night we talked about the common theme of human pride for the people of Israel and how God has to break us down to rebuild us in the image we were made for, to truly live for the Kingdom. In Isaiah 6 God's true glory is shown & Isaiah asks to be sent to the people with this message of hope. The people are offered a choice to see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, & be healed rather than just continuing on their broken way. God is a God of love, desires us to seek hope & restoration. We are given the promise of Beauty from Ashes. We also have the choice not to be a part of this. Either way God will continue to be a God of love, hope, & holiness.

Last night I also shared the poem that I included in the last post because it has remained on my heart daily and through that I was able to recognize that God really has ordained this ministry & our time together by prompting each of us to seek the Spirit in all things. One of our main focuses is to support each other in our own personal ministry and also come together to collectively learn, listen, & grown.

Last night was bit a hectic simply because some of the kids from the building wanted to come to house church so of course we let them hangout. Its a completely different experience having church in your living room with kids all over the place playing. Above all things though it warmed our hearts just to have them there. For all we know this may be there only 'church' experience and we can rejoice in their child like presence and pray that seeds of love & truth are being planted.
After the message we shared a meal together, all four of us who live in the house were there as well as kids from both floors.

Oh how our love for each other has grown.

Just a little shout out to my lovely housemates Gayle, Lauren, & Hannah.
Thanks for being amazing, pure of heart, & centered on the truth. xo
Hopefully soon enough we will name our house and maybe even have a few new members!

Thanks for reading,

Go in peace.

Rooted in Relationship

This morning I spent some time reading as part of my day off since starting the new job at the bakery. Juggling work full time, the community house, relationships, & personal well being can be quiet difficult. Its a good reminder that as long as I am centered on the Truth than I can be filled to live this life that has been put before me.

These words by thirteenth century poet Hadewijch of Antwerp have inspired me;

The madness of love
is a blessed fate;
and if we understood this
we would seek no other:
it brings in unity
what was divided,
and this is truth:
bitterness it makes sweet,
it makes the stranger a neighbor,
and what was lowly is raises on high.

If the things we do are rooted in a deep, profound love, then barriers can be broken down through relationship.
This is the meditation for my life.

So many beautiful reminders of this over the past days even amidst difficult situations, trials, troubles, tears, & break-ins
Kind words, the loving embrace from the kids, sweet whispers of truth from housemates, and of course the never-ending love from Abba.

All of these things have one thing in common; Relationship

Each and every relationship has become interwoven to such a point that all of our lives will be forever changed, even though we have now only been here just over a month.
From Gayle's surgery Friday, to Sierra's babyshower Saturday, to dinner & dance party Sunday night, the 1st floor girls visiting me at the Bakery, to the boys in the neighborhood breaking in Tuesday night & stealing to Wii (beautiful story of love, more to come later) Gayle coming home Wed. from surgery & driving me to/from work, Gardening @ Carroll St. community garden (so much growth!!) Dinner on Saturday w/ new friends, tag with the kids in the field, Foodshare Sunday, House dinner tonight.
Wow, thats what comes to mind as I re-read all of that. Our lives are full of relationships, and not just the kind where you know who people are or say hi to them but the real kind where when I'm exhausted from work one of the housemates offers to cook dinner & clean up. Or when the kids are so helpful and loving you cant help but to think something in their heart is beggining to shift even amidst the violence.

Our stories are more beautiful now that they are intertwined.

Tonight when Eugene was reading the new books I brought home from the library today Mikala, Sierra's little sister, ran in & jumped on my lap smiling asking if I would take her to her second day of kindergarten tomorrow. This made my day. She is so adorable and had her first day today, she told me she was so proud of herself because she didnt cry when she got dropped off. She promised that if I take her in the morning she wont cry because she is excited to go to school!
This is her & lil sister Pamela who started Pre-K today as well.
So adorable!
Pam on left, Mikala on right. They are too cute, drama queens for sure but they have fully embraced us as we love & care for them. This weekend I also talked to Minesha, their mom, about how things are going to work with school starting since she works 5am- all day and can't take or pick up the little girls. This is going to be difficult to get them to and from school now that they are the going age. I let her know I don't ever have to be at work before the time that they need to go so let me know if you need help. Its nice to share needs, and be real with each other.
That is what community is, the recognition that we can't do it alone.
There is so much relief in knowing that you are needed but also knowing that others are for you and want to bear your burden with you. This is a tangible way to support Minesha, taking the girls to school some mornings. Plus, its really nice for me because who knows if I'll ever have my own little girls so being an Auntie to them is just perfect :)

Sierra can also help out until either she has the baby and/or starts school back. I still am in awe of the timing behind all of this. Quiet amazing that we would enter their lives when the little girls are just starting school for the first time & Sierra is about to have a baby.
We are so thankful that they are as loving & excited about our lives becoming entangled as we are. That feels so good after that being my personal biggest worry about moving over here & starting the community house. Not being accepted.

So to go back tracking to some of both the amazing & difficult points in this past week...

Saturday was Sierra's babyshower, we are so excited for her and even though not as many people showed up as she hoped we were able to come along side her with support, love, & lots of donations from other friends. She now has everything she needs to have this baby! What a blessing.

Sunday night we had some of the boys over for dinner & our new friend Mac who is helping Lauren clean out the basement. We played the Wii together for fun since we know the boys like video games we played a dancing game that was quiet hilarious. Mac even played & actually beat Lauren!
That was truly a lovely summer night, our dinner table full of friends and neighbors enjoying each others company.

The week went on a little different than normal since Gayle was still at her mom's house in Indiana recovering from surgery & Hannah was in Montana visitng family. So it was just Lauren & I for the beggining part of the week. She came, with the girls downstairs, to get me from work on Tuesday night and when we got home our front door was open. That was a bit of a surprise to me since we were the only ones in town and were coming home together. I was a little bit nervous to go in the house honestly. I started calling out to see if anyone was in there or if Kender would come to the door. No answer. We looked around & called the landlord to let him know what happened. The pieces came together as soon as Lauren noticed the Wii was missing... then I looked back at the front door and it had been kicked open. Based on our knowledge of who knew we had the Wii and how high the kick was... we decided to walk next door and inquire. I was a bit nervous since I hadnt meet the parents next door yet but I knew that as long as my heart was pure in the desire to reconcile what had happened without blame then it would be fine. His mom wasnt home so I decided to let it go till tomorrow. I went home & brought Kender out for a walk and at that time his mom & stepdad were coming home. I explained what had happend and asked if they would try to find out anymore.
20 minutes later the doorbell rings and they are downstairs with the Wii.
I was shocked. I didnt expect to get it back, I was just hoping for truth from the boys.
She apologized that her son wasnt truthful with me and I let her know that he is a good kid and we want to see him make good choices, especially since he is new the neighborhood. Anyways, it was getting worked out but in my heart I had a feeling Jonathan from upstairs was involved somehow especially because the boys were let into the building while we were gone, and he was one of 3 who knew we had it. Oh man.
My heart was broken.
He was waiting for me at the top of the stairs when I came in from talking to the next door neighbors. I asked him, is there anything you want to tell me?
I didn't accuse him or tell him I know he was involved. I think he could tell I knew, and tell that I was hurt. Lauren came to the door & we had a talk with him. We told him; we love you and want you to know you can be real with us. We arn't going to yell, or hurt you, or most of all love you any less. Big old alligator tears were welling up in his eyes and started pouring down his cheeks. He gave us both big hugs and we asked him, you know we love you right?

I'm positive he has never been talked to like that in his life.
It changed something in him, even if just for that moment. He saw his own brokenness and how it effected & hurt us. He really is a sweet boy with a bright future, just makes really bad choices sometimes. We want to keep reminding him that he has the choice to make good decisions and that both good & bad choices had consequences. It's amazing the way we handled that whole situation, but we would have it no other way. No we didn't call the police, no we didn't get mad, and no we didn't hide or sell the Wii.
Everyday, every situation is a learning & teaching opportunity. A chance to show someone true love, grace, & understanding. Meeting people where they are at. That is part of being in relationship, loving people well where they currently are in their life.

That whole experience was really heart breaking because it just really showed me a lot about these kids and the culture in which they are living in. Simliar feelings came up in my heart when the girls on the next block over threw brick through Josh's car window Saturday night to steal a basketball.
Kids make bad choices. There has to be responsibility for those choices but why do they feel like they have to take it? Why can't they just ask to use it? Or why can't they tell us the truth?
These are deep issues that we are going to continue to be confronting over the years.
Our lives have become burdened for this block, this neighborhood, these kids, the struggles.


I'll leave you with that; who is your life becoming entangled with? Are you bearing each others burdens?

Go in peace.
xo



{More on the Garden another day; its too late to keep writing}