Chesapeake, Virginia, the new home of our friend Kelly, and soon to be of her husband Chuck (as soon as he's able to sell their house). Two of their three boys live down here, and both their grandsons. The country and cold of Western New York is no match for the allure of kids and grandkids. Chuck's parents are both with the Lord, so the only ties still holding them to our area is the church and Chuck's brother Matt. Church...grandchildren. It's pretty much a no-brainer, although it brings somewhat of a culture shock. Things are pretty slow and sleepy back home. A twenty minute drive covers quite a bit of territory. Here, twenty minutes might get you five miles. The traffic is horrific, but the area is full of opportunity.
It's been a long time since I've lived in suburbia. Where we live, we know our mechanic personally; I know his family, officiated at his wedding. There's one Home Depot, one mall, a few supermarkets, a Starbucks north of us on the college campus, and one south of us in the commercial district which runs the length of a single street in Lakewood. There's a small hospital, a few nursing homes, a handful of funeral homes, whose proprietors I know by name. I know how to pastor a church in the boonies; haven't the foggiest how I'd go about it down here.
For anyone with ambition, an area like this would be the place to be. But if one wants solitude, it's hard to beat where I live. I feel torn; the Gospel imperative pushes us to the cities where the people are. My heart is in the country where I've lived most of my life, and from which I don't anticipate moving anytime soon. It's been good to be down here though, the crowds an important reminder that Jesus who was born outside a sleepy little village, died in the cosmopolitan city of Jerusalem among other reasons because it was in the city where are the people whom God loves. There's a big part of me that would be happy to retreat into my little rural world, but I am grateful tonight for the day's reminder that God's love is for all people everywhere, and that if I am to be a genuine follower of Jesus, my heart must expand and grow beyond the woods and fields I call home.
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