the heartbeat of a neighborhood

I am my mother's daughter. My mom is into family tree work, and she spends hours and days driving to people's homes she's never met and having beautiful, hallowed conversations as she listens to their stories. She loves it, and she's good at it.

Over the past years, I have found that God keeps taking me back into a certain neighborhood in Waterloo to serve. I grew up going to a Presbyterian church in that neighborhood, and I ended up working there as a youth director for five years in my 20's. I left that church in midst of staff conflict, but I began to serve with the House of Hope Transitional Housing Program in the neighborhood, and now I am a friend and partner at Harvest Vineyard in the neighborhood. As of late, I've been visiting with several neighbors about the neighborhood, and I understand why my mom seems so energized by the connections, conversations, relationships she makes when doing her genealogy work. It really is a holy time when someone opens up and begins to share their story and experiences. I am grateful for people's openness to receive me, to let me ask questions, and to share with me about their neighborhood. It has impacted me a great deal in the past few weeks. Before, when I've gone prayerwalking with friends in neighborhoods, that has proven to be a time where I feel like God gives me more of a heart for his community and for the people. This has been that same experience for me x10. It is a hallowed time to really listen to the community.