blogger mom

I haven't posted a lot lately about what life is like here in the Bottoms. Most of the time I feel completely at home here. This weekend we were able to spend some great time talking with Trey's preschool teacher and her husband. We are planning on going out with them next weekend, which is really exciting for us. Both of their families have lived in Franklinton for generations. It has taken some time, but I don't think they see us as outsiders here anymore. They are really great people with such gentle hearts.
I really feel at home at St. John's. I took the boys by myself tonight. We now know a lot of the kids there. It still amazes me how unsupervised they all are. I love that my boys think having dinner with the poor and homeless is normal. I love that this is their church. Which brings me to our friend Cowboy. Many of you have met Cowboy now when you've been to our home. We usually see him three or four times a week. This man has the sweetest spirit of anyone I've met in a long time. It has been a privilege to get to know him better. He's constantly looking for ways to give to our family because he appreciates so much the little ways we help him. Cowboy lives in an alley down town. He comes over to fix his bike, wash his coat, or drop off a few things he needs to store at our house during the day. He's always at church and likes to walk over with us. He's always inviting his friends to church with him. He's trying to get into the YMCA shelter, but he's having a difficult time. Today he was storing some of his stuff at our house so he didn't have to drag it around while he donated blood. By the way, he earned $35 today and gave $22 of it to a friend who needed it for bus fare. I was really hoping that when I saw him tonight he would have good news about getting into the Y. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. They told him to check back on Monday. So, after church Cowboy and his friend stopped by to pick up his stuff, including his sleeping bag. It was agonizing to give this man his stuff and then shut the door and walk upstairs to my warm bedroom to sleep. Cowboy never would ask to stay here, and I could never let Cowboy stay here for a lot of reasons. But, it was so hard to shut that door. I came upstairs crying and sat my boys down to pray for our friend. They understand homelessness, it's a daily reality in this neighborhood. They hurt for their friend Cowboy too. Riley said, "I'm just glad we can be his friend." Lord help us know how.
On the other hand, there are times where I still feel like I live in another country. On Saturday I took Riley to his end of the season basketball potluck at Gladden. Eric couldn't come with me because Trey had strep. There were about 300 people there and I really did feel like I had walked into another culture. Then there was the time I spent with my neighbor on Monday night. Again, she's lived in this neighborhood her entire life and I really didn't even know how to respond to her that night. The conversation was beyond bizarre. I guess the bottom line is that life here is good, really good. At the same time, I still have so much to learn about how to be a good neighbor here.
I guess that's about it, except that I'm obsessed with this stupid Democratic primary race. It's not that I'm an extremely political person anymore. But, I'm still fascinated by American history and this is history in the making. I woke up and ran to the internet to see how things went in Ohio and Texas last night. I was a little disappointed. Yes Kevin, I've been reading up and I must say I like Obama. Not that I really think it matters too much in my whole view of the Kingdom. But, a African American in office does seem like it could maybe offer this country something it's needed for a long time.