Moved Into the Neighborhood

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At the start of this year I was finally able to move to the YWAM base in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to my condo and the Darien area where I’d called home for well over 15 years. I never realized how difficult all the transition would be in my life but it has definitely been challenging. All the patterns in your day to day life change as you relearn how to do life in a new neighborhood. The picture I keep imaging is that I am a plant that has been uprooted and replanted. It will take time for my roots to grow and gain strength in the new soil. I have been thinking a lot about the incarnational ministry of Jesus. John 1:14 says that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” I like this verse in the Message version, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” I am so thankful that Jesus was willing to move into the neighborhood and do all that he did. He became one of us so he could truly understand our lives and the needs we have. In doing that, he can help us and meet those needs with compassion and caring because he knows what it's like. He can sympathize with us This passage has taken on such new life for me since moving. It’s one thing to minister in the city. It’s another thing altogether to move there and be among the people you are trying to reach. You become a part of the area. You change a little as you adapt to the culture around you. It changes a little because you are now there. You learn how to do life in that area and see what is considered normal. You hopefully start to better understand the needs of those around you and can reach out to meet those needs. It takes time and commitment to plant roots but I think you are stronger in the end. I am really excited to be a part of Chicago in the neighborhood of Rogers Park. It is a neighborhood that is 1.83 square miles and has 56,000 people from over 150 different countries. It is ethnically diverse and rich with many different cultures. Please pray for me that I would start to feel more at home and continue to build strong friendships here in this part of the city. My new neighborhood, my new home!