Last week our car had its front window shot out (yes, as in, with a gun) while parked in the street in front of our house. At least 10 other neighbors had their cars hit as well and we had to call the police and fill out police reports and we were all late for our morning commitments.<\/p>\n

No houses or people were hit, so that\u2019s good. And just four hours and fifty dollars later, we had a new window put in.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the city. These things happen.<\/p>\n

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What is God\u2019s Country<\/span>?<\/strong><\/span>
I grew up in rural west Michigan and figured I had no choice but to live in a rural setting forever. Afterall, everyone called it \u201cGod\u2019s country\u201d and I certainly didn\u2019t want to live anywhere God wasn\u2019t.
A thousand twists and turns later and Paul and I find ourselves living in the heart of Grand Rapids. Not the worst neighborhood of our city, but (clearly) not the best either.
I realize that if one has the resources to choose<\/em> where they live, debating over which locale is best (city, suburbs, country) is completely arbitrary because it\u2019s purely personal preference. We didn\u2019t have to move to the city. We could have stayed in the burbs and we could have stayed at our \u201cbig dream house\u201d that we had built in the country. We chose<\/em> city life.
And now, we have found a spiritual-ness to city life that proves God dwells powerfully here, too.
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10 Ways We See God in the City:<\/strong><\/span>
1 – In the city, we have met people from all kinds of different race, religion, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds from our own. Whenever I hear someone (usually caucasian) ranting about issues\/problems with blacks, gays, Muslims, the poor, immigrants, pro-choice, pro-life, atheists, Democrats, Republicans, etc. I will ask them, \u201cDo you know any? Like, do you HANG OUT with anyone from (that particular people group)?\u201d If they reply \u201cWell, not exactly\u201d, I won\u2019t listen any further. If we do not know people who are different from us, we do not have the right to talk about what \u201cthey\u201d are like, what \u201cthey\u201d do or think or feel. When we made close friends with many Muslims in Morocco, our entire view shifted from what we previously thought or believed about Islam. It is imperative to truly KNOW the \u201cother\u201d before commenting (or worse, ranting) about them and their perceived impact on your own existence. I believe we\u2019re extremely misguided to derive our opinions from Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow.
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2 – In the city, we drive down bumpy, neglected roads as we take in broken street lights, graffiti, and panhandlers. These serve as a constant reminder that the world is not a perfect place and no matter how hard we strive to curate perfection in our lives (whether by beautifully perfect homes, perfectly edited Instagram feeds, perfectly manicured lawns, etc. ) the truth is, PERFECTION is for heaven and this world is broken. Most of the world suffers unspeakable pain, hurt, loss and brokenness and we MUST NOT forget that truth. For me, I need the daily reminder the city offers.
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3 – In the city, we see people. People are seen out walking, hanging out at bus stops or street corners, or just visiting one another on their front porches. People in the city don\u2019t drive their cars into their houses (as once described to me by a little Moroccan boy who couldn\u2019t fathom the phenomenon of \u201cgarages\u201d), but instead, we park on the street and SEE one another with every coming and going. When Paul and I were younger we sought to escape others, now we seek them and the city just works better for that.
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4 – We hear church bells in the city.
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5 – I can hear my neighbors conversations if both our homes have the windows open. Living in the city means you watch your language more carefully. It\u2019s like having a built-in accountability partner.
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6 – We have nuns playing soccer with the students across the street during Catholic-school recess. I don\u2019t care who you are \u2013 if you\u2019re having a bad day, watching nuns play soccer with little kids will just make you happy. It\u2019s like having Julie Andrews out your front window.
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7 – We may get our cars shot at once and awhile, but you know what? It brought us all out onto the street that morning and we learned the names of a few neighbors we hadn\u2019t met and we all banded together with common loss and concern and empathy. It\u2019s through the hardships that we truly bond with one another. I don\u2019t believe in seeking hardships, but I also don\u2019t think cocooning ourselves in an attempt to avoid life\u2019s hardships is the life God desires for us either.
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8 – Living amongst those from a lower socio-economic status serves as a daily reminder to not become lovers of money. It\u2019s so dang easy for us to believe we need more, more, more. But when I am surrounded by those who have less, I have to really wrestle with my spending habits and discern if I really need those new throw pillows more than Julie down the street needs diapers for her children.
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9 – Living in the city you do not need to waste your money on marijuana. If the situation calls for it, you can just stroll over to the park and inhale a big enough whiff to get a little buzz for free.
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10 \u2013 In the city, you can get REAL tacos from little hole-in-the-wall taco stands that serve REAL corn-flour tortilla shells. You\u2019ll never be able to eat a flour tortilla shell again (Gross. Just gross.)
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But is it SAFE?<\/strong><\/span>
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I don\u2019t particularly care for people driving down my street shooting at our cars (or shooting at anything, for that matter), but I LOVE what Mrs. Beaver said to Lucy in \u201cThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe\u201d when Lucy asked if Aslan was safe:
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She said, \u201cOf course He isn\u2019t safe, child, but He is good.\u201d
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\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week our car had its front window shot out (yes, as in, with a gun) while parked in the street in front of our house. At least 10 other neighbors had their cars hit as well and we had to call the police and fill out police reports and we were all late for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14,25,26,32,1],"tags":[72,98,113],"yoast_head":"\n