Of Bicycles...

For many of my friends who spent their days at Baldwin Park in Concord, having a bicycle is a big deal. These guys don't have cars, and public transit in Contra Costa County is not the best. A number of these guys could really use a bike to get around town. So, if you live in the Bay Area and read this and have an extra bike, toss me an email...or maybe you know someone else who has a bike laying in their garage collecting dust. I would really love to hook a few of these guys up with bikes before I move to San Francisco and can't see them as frequently. Thanks.

St. Francis

St. Francis

"Lord, make me and instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive -
It is pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

A place to live?

I've been looking for a suitable place to live in San Francisco for a while now. I've gone to some open houses and driven by places and walked by places. I'm getting a little tired of it and a little frustrated at how hard it is...trying to trust that God really will provide for all our needs.
I've fallen in love with Bernal Heights along with my friends Ryan and Holly, and for the moment it feels like it would be a wonderful place for our family.
There is one place in particular that I really want that just popped up on craigslist. I'm praying that God would provide in the best way, and if this is a good place for us that we would be able to rent it.

Kayla is 2

Walking the streets...

I get to spend the whole week in the City with a group from Riverside participating in a week long Jesus Dojo. It is going to be a great week because the leaders, Damien and Jen O'Farrell, are people I've been getting to know over the past couple years and truly enjoy. I hope these high schoolers appreciate Damien and Jen and the care and teaching they receive from them.

We did some serious walking today and met some wonderful people. A woman named Bree stopped us and thanked us for smiling. We paused our walk and spent a few minutes with her, and she explained that she just appreciates seeing young men who appear to have to be happy and kind. We had an interesting conversation in which she invited us into her group of actors she is getting together. An hour or so later an elderly woman in the UN Plaza said hello as we walked by. I was surprised to see a woman of her age sitting down in the middle of the plaza by herself. She just wanted some people to talk to for a little while, and we enjoyed her company. She told us about the crummy motel she has to live in these days and her hopes that her social worker will return from vacation so she can get into a new place, but she was also encouraging... "It's a beautiful day! I finally see how beautiful it is. I recently quit drinking and smoking, and I just feel wonderful!" "Yes, God is good, isn't He? He has given us a beautiful day." Suddenly she asked us to pray for her, which was interesting since we had given no indication we were Christians or were in the habit of praying. We prayed for her housing situation and thanked God that He has delivered her from alcohol. We said goodbye as she called out to us to take care of ourselves. The three of us continued our walk through the Tenderloin in awe of the frail old lady sitting in the middle of the UN Plaza, soaking up the sun.

I can only hope and pray the week is full of moments like these. I'm stoked about this group. Tomorrow we enter the beautiful mess of Page Street Community Center.