In quiet corners of our communities, people are still committed to one another’s good, even across deep difference. 

My annual reflection on another year in our quirky old house on the best little block of W. Cucharras St.

Eight years in this old house have brought many dreams fulfilled and new dreams shaped by the kingdom.

One of my favorite posts of the year! I reflect on seven years on our street and in this house, and on seasons of receiving as a sign of God’s coming Kingdom.

The love and life of Christ in our home bears witness to the truth that our family, our home, our street is caught up in something not just a century old, but something eternal.

Behind our home, there is a dirt-paved, trash can-lined alleyway with power and telephone lines arching overhead. And in that dusty, tumbledown alleyway, there is an unexpected gift—a row of the brightest flowers, growing tall and wild, along a neighbor’s chain link fence.

A few nights ago Sam and I bundled up (one of us using Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer finger puppets as a glove—pick your battles, they tell me), and set out to deliver some Christmas gifts to the houses on our street.

This is a bit of my street. On the right you’ll see a house with a “Trump 2020: Keep America Great” banner at the top (Side note: You can’t access that Mary Poppins-like roof from inside, people. I have no idea how he got that up there.).

It’s our 5th House-iversary!

We’ve spent a whole lot of time in this old house over the past six months, but if possible I think we’re more grateful than ever for our home, our caring neighbors on the best little block on all of Cucharras St., and our weird and wonderful neighborhood.