So, does anyone even read these things anymore?! Ha Ha Ha.
Hello old and new friends!
Allow me to share a little about who I am for all those who don't know.
I'm Nicole. My husband and I of 16 years followed a call from the Lord to move our family into the Washington Park community in hopes of being apart what we believed God was doing. Which was, restoring hope, saving lives, and reminding people of their value, dignity, worth and significance. In 2007 our lives changed; we grew quickly in understanding what it meant to give of ourselves, we quickly learned how safety was a mirage, how relationships are messy (and a mess worth making), how sinful we both were, how trust can be broken quickly, how family should always be your first priority, how our neighbors love us, how programs don't save people or keep them safe- only the Lord can do that. We have mourned the death of kids we minister to and considered family, we have also watched them become parents, college students, wives, husbands, small business and home owners, service men in the military and employees of the very ministry that we help start.
In the midst of all the highs and lows, I have to be honest. I can't tell you how many times I have asked the Lord to remove us from this place. I have been weary, broken to the core (at least it felt like it) and just tired. But, we're still here and I know it's because our story and work here is not finished. I have to trust God in that.
If you're apart of any form or urban ministry you know about the annual conferences that are held to uplift and empower those of us that are apart of this work. I use to attend those conferences wanting to know the real. I didn't want to be fed no fluff. I needed to know what the real deal of what living in an under resourced community was all about. Well, I found my answer and it wasn't from a book or a conference, it came straight from experience.
There is no way you will ever get the lessons needed to survive ministry or gain a deeper intimacy with God out of a conference or book. These lessons come only through proximity and hardship. Hardship that is birthed through being in relationships with people who are different than you. People who we think we need to "minister" to, but in reality we move here and they do some of the ministering to us.
I came back here because recording all of what God has done is important and very much healing to the soul. I need this right now in my life and I believe one day it would be good for my daughter to read.
I would like to start back using this blog as a space for me to talk about all the mistakes, all the failures, all the joys of urban ministry. I want to share about how good and gracious God has been even through what was some of the darkest days of my (our) life.
So, yea.....
We're still here. In the same house, on the same street, fighting the same battles. Trusting the same God and waiting for the moment when justice will reign forever!
Hello old and new friends!
Allow me to share a little about who I am for all those who don't know.
I'm Nicole. My husband and I of 16 years followed a call from the Lord to move our family into the Washington Park community in hopes of being apart what we believed God was doing. Which was, restoring hope, saving lives, and reminding people of their value, dignity, worth and significance. In 2007 our lives changed; we grew quickly in understanding what it meant to give of ourselves, we quickly learned how safety was a mirage, how relationships are messy (and a mess worth making), how sinful we both were, how trust can be broken quickly, how family should always be your first priority, how our neighbors love us, how programs don't save people or keep them safe- only the Lord can do that. We have mourned the death of kids we minister to and considered family, we have also watched them become parents, college students, wives, husbands, small business and home owners, service men in the military and employees of the very ministry that we help start.
In the midst of all the highs and lows, I have to be honest. I can't tell you how many times I have asked the Lord to remove us from this place. I have been weary, broken to the core (at least it felt like it) and just tired. But, we're still here and I know it's because our story and work here is not finished. I have to trust God in that.
If you're apart of any form or urban ministry you know about the annual conferences that are held to uplift and empower those of us that are apart of this work. I use to attend those conferences wanting to know the real. I didn't want to be fed no fluff. I needed to know what the real deal of what living in an under resourced community was all about. Well, I found my answer and it wasn't from a book or a conference, it came straight from experience.
There is no way you will ever get the lessons needed to survive ministry or gain a deeper intimacy with God out of a conference or book. These lessons come only through proximity and hardship. Hardship that is birthed through being in relationships with people who are different than you. People who we think we need to "minister" to, but in reality we move here and they do some of the ministering to us.
I came back here because recording all of what God has done is important and very much healing to the soul. I need this right now in my life and I believe one day it would be good for my daughter to read.
I would like to start back using this blog as a space for me to talk about all the mistakes, all the failures, all the joys of urban ministry. I want to share about how good and gracious God has been even through what was some of the darkest days of my (our) life.
So, yea.....
We're still here. In the same house, on the same street, fighting the same battles. Trusting the same God and waiting for the moment when justice will reign forever!