In It, Not Of It
We weren’t able to have our normal family night this past Sunday because our church hosted it’s annual block party-witnessing to our inner-city neighbors! We shut down several blocks of the main road here in our neighborhood and host the largest block party I have ever seen! Inflatables, free food, carnival games, playground, puppet shows, Gospel presentations, live music, free JESUS t-shirts…the list goes on-it is truly amazing! This is our 5th year of hosting this and every year it gets bigger and better! 
It is always an amazing reminder of where we are raising our kids and what we do NOT want for them. It is also a reminder of Christ’s love for ALL-no matter how different {and far from God} they may seem.
As most of you know, we live right where we serve…which is not a desirable place to live by the world’s standards. We are in the heart of the inner city, just a few blocks from the church we serve with. We live in the area most go out of their way to avoid.
We are raising our kids here. Why? Because we feel led by God to be here.
Do we sacrifice to live here? YES, a lot {but we GAIN a lot also}.
Is it worth it? YES!!!!!
We believe in raising our kids God’s way, and to many we are NUTS. If you’ve ever read my little paragraph under my family photo on the sidebar, you already know this! Does this mean I think you should all become missionaries or move to the inner city? NO!!! I believe we are each called to a unique path, and it is our job to listen to the Holy Spirit and follow the best we can. We are doing our best to raise our children to do this too.
We want our kids to live sold-out for Jesus. Do I fear them actually doing that and moving overseas or doing something dangerous in the name of Christ? Yes, but I still want that. They are not mine-they are HIS. I am just raising them for HIM.
So, we live IN the world. We live near violence, drugs, prostitution, immodesty to the MAX, profanity, child abuse/neglect, poverty, addiction and more. We hear sirens constantly and helicopters hovering with a spotlight overhead is completely normal. My kids stood under my feet as I witnessed a drug related murder right after the shots fired ~ right across the street. We can’t walk to the car just feet from our house without hearing profanity and fighting.
But, we are not OF the world. We are obviously different. Our home is different, our family is different. For many people in our neighborhood, we {and the other missionary families we work with who all live here too} are the only Godly {yet still imperfect} family they will ever see.
So, we did not have our normal family Bible time, but that’s OK. We dove right into the world and made it obvious that we are not OF it. Jesus was everywhere and it was beautiful!!!
John 17:14-16
14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do.
Visit the Raising Rock Stars Webpage to download your own notebook pages and to see links to previous Rock Stars posts!