To be honest... I'm not sure yet

The bank teller at Chase confirms my address with me as I get a roll of quarters for my laundry. I'm up in Oak Park, a quaint community about 15-20 minutes away from my neighborhood. Today I'm going to do a run along a road filled with homes designed by the famous architecht Frank Lloyd Wright. I have to admit, I didn't know who he was when I first prepared to move to Chicago, but apparently he is a big deal.

Anyways, back to the bank teller....
"You live in Lawndale?" (an aside: Little Village is also known as South Lawndale).
"Yes" I replied back... she looked at me, a little confused then proceeded with her work.
A couple seconds later she looked up and asked "do you work there?"....
"yes".... I replied...I'm a PA in family practice"
She then quickly remarked "oh do you work at that Christian clinic?"
"Why Yes! I replied, "do you know of it??"
"yes" she replied... but the confused look returned... "you work there but don't live there do you?"
"Yes I do, I live and work there"
She then proceeded to say the same 2 words people have said to me many times over the past couple of weeks.....
"Be careful"

I have numerous moments where i pause wondering why I am doing this... why I live where I live. Especially in really hip/quaint neighborhoods like Oak Park... The anthem "be careful" constantly sings its chorus in my head. I feel a little crazy at times and often ask myself... "are you really going to make a difference, is it worth the risk...????"

To be honest.... I'm not sure yet.

But I will share with you some thoughts about this idea of relocation and the theory behind my decision. The Christian Community Development Association a group with a mission to restore Under-Resourced communities. They believe that a couple of principles are essential to the process of restoration of broken communities: Relocation, Reconciliation, Redistribution. It would take a while to go into each of these but I'm going to chat a little bit about relocation.

There is a Chinese poem that reads:
Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have
But the best of leaders
When their task is done
The people will remark
"we have done it ourselves"

Bob Lupton, a man doing this very thing in Atlanta with FCS Urban Ministries says
"Common sense tells us to protect our families and our investments from people of detrimental influence. Yet God's desirability quotient seems weighted toward becoming neighbors to people in need. In fact, Jesus, giving the same weight to loving one's neighbor as to loving God, described for us those who needed neighbors- the ill-clothed, the hungry, the homeless stranger, the wounded and the broken.... What is more sobering is that our withdrawal from neighbors in need causes schools to decline, real estate to depreciate, crime to spread, hope to dwindle, communities to collapse, and despair to reign."

So here I am... and I don't know yet if me being here will make a difference but I am praying it will. I don't want to waste my time here and I hope to be able to do a small part in loving this community as I would any community I would have been a part of.

There is a theoretical harmony in my mind that exists when people of different colors, economic backgrounds, educational histories and cultures become neighbors. I will let share with you when I "hear" this harmony manifest itself, I'll also share times when it sounds more like fingernails on a chalk board, but I'm excited to share part of this journey with friends and family that I care for.

Thanks for reading.... I have included some pictures from my day in Oak Park

One of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses I passed on my run

Another Wright house



A hot dog from Tasty Dog.... mmmmmm cucumbers and tomato on a hotdog = yummy

Hello Chicago

Hello there everyone,
Greetings from Chicago! Its currently 12 degrees outside but feels like -3. I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Lincoln Park, which is about 20 minutes or so from my neighborhood, but I had my hair cut down here today and decided to explore a bit and settled in this coffee place called Lincoln Perk. It is small, and I'm the only one in here but there is a sweet Reggae song playing in the background. My belly is full after having a delicious Caprese sandwich (Pesto, tomato and mozerella) and a delicious soy chai tea latte. There is so much to talk about that I don't even know where to begin.

I guess I'll start with my living space.... as you seen I live in that cute building pictured on the left. We are on the first floor (not the basement). I love it. The space is great but even more I have really awesome roommates. It is really neat to see how God provides, even in the details. Having found them was even more of a confirmation to me that Chicago and specifically Little Village was where I was supposed to be for this season of my life. Amy and Emily are the names of my roommates. I met Amy very briefly when I interviewed back in November (actually met her on her birthday!) and emailed her later when I decided to move to Chicago to see if she knew of anyone looking for roommates and she was looking for one. Bingo.
Emily works at New Life Church (Little Village location), I met her when I moved in. She is super cool as well. Both of them are really friendly and I know I will learn a lot from each of them as we share life together in Little Village.

Next, a huge shout out to my parents. The journey to Chicago included my mom and aunt driving to Atlanta and helping me pack. I am organizationally challenged and they came in and really blessed me with their time and service. Amazing if you ask me. Then my dad came down and helped me move all my stuff and did an amazing job packing the Penske truck. He also did a rockstar job driving that thing from Atlanta to Chicago, including the last leg which included ice covered roads. We stopped in Evansville, Indiana to stay with the Keller family (they belong to my great friend Lauren Keller from college) They took us in and really blessed us with their time and food during our pit stop.

Then the big day, the drive into the city.... we unloaded the truck... then about 10 minutes later, the blizzard started. No joke, the timing was perfect!! My dad made it home (probably exhausted) and then my mom flew in and helped me organize. This included multiple target and home depot runs but we got the job done. It was so nice to have her here. i love that both of my parents got to see where I live and meet the people I will be living amongst. I think they are both have a peace about me being here which is great and yet another confirmation.

On Monday I start work. I don't know what to expect really but I'm expectant that God will enable me to serve His people in this community well. My prayer is that I have a good balance of servanthood without burnout. That I take care of myself well but also give of myself well. I know that I will learn how to do this and through grace and wisdom I will somehow learn and grow into this balance.

If you pray, please ask God for safety, growth, wisdom, and the ability to practice good medicine. Pray for Little Village.

Love each of you. Miss each of you..... Thank you for walking through this life with me.