Category: South Central

The latest ghetto accessory

On my way to my sister’s house yesterday afternoon, I walked by a young man on the street who was decked out in typical gangbanger duds. What made him unique was the thick, living snake he wore around his neck. Is this the new “bling”?

My shepherd

When Doug came home last night after work, the first thing out of his mouth as he walked through the door was: “Hey, what happened to the license plate?” Having no clue what he was talking about, I was stunned to find out that in fact there was no longer a plate on the back… Continue reading My shepherd

Meet Sam, the Bee-Hag

I’m not a fan of business/organizational lingo. My tolerance is so low that when I worked at North Park I went crazy with all the talk about everything “on our plates”! Anyway, call it a minor pet peeve… A few weeks ago Redeemer Community Partnership (our Community Development Corporation) presented our church with a BHAG:… Continue reading Meet Sam, the Bee-Hag

At the Gate

I’ll call him Frankie. Frankie was a boy growing up in the West Central neighborhood of Spokane, Washington when my husband lived at the Westminster House, an incarnational urban ministry connected with Whitworth College. Doug invested a lot of time, love, and prayer in Frankie, as he did with many of the boys in that… Continue reading At the Gate

Deus Absconditus

While studying for a course final at Fuller Seminary, I stumbled across a great devotional nugget in a surprising place: my lecture notes from a class in Medieval and Reformation Theology! Our professor was discussing how Martin Luther saw the hiddenness of God within revelation, as well as outside of it. Luther argued that, quite… Continue reading Deus Absconditus

Who is the enemy?

This past year my brother-in law began organizing neighbors on my block to form a block club in response to the increasing violence we were experiencing on our streets. We have met the first Friday of every month at the home of some good friends. Neighbors have come, many fearfully, to meet with our Senior… Continue reading Who is the enemy?

Lessons in the sand

Since Mercy has decided that after a month of living at Newman Lake, Tillamook and Grammy and Pop Pop’s backyard, our little apartment is terribly boring, we spent most of yesterday afternoon at our local park. Doug and I always joke about what it’s like to let our kids play at this park, especially in… Continue reading Lessons in the sand

Perspective II

We just returned home to L.A. after twenty-five days of what, by comparison, now feels like a totally surreal life. Living lakefront for a week was certainly a highlight, however it is a bit of a heartbreak to watch my Mercy trying to reorient herself to her cement environment here. Spending time at the cabin… Continue reading Perspective II

At the feet…

I am one of those people who has always seen the early church as pictured in the Acts of the Apostles as romantic, winsome, irresistible. This idea that people would literally bring their possessions to the feet of an elder so that the needs of a fellow worshipper could be met runs so counter to… Continue reading At the feet…