A few weeks ago a young couple came in. They were from Portland, I had seen them around before but had never really talked to them before. But they came in and said “we need some help, we’re getting married and are still looking for some stuff”. Over the next couple of weeks they made multiple stops in, each time getting some things they needed, dresses for their flowergirls, a shirt for the groom, shoes for the bride.
With Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Thred Up, it has seemingly never been easier for somebody who has something they don’t need to give that thing to somebody who does need it. The concept in its simplest form is amazing, letting resources flow where they are needed, but it can often get complicated when the giver begins to ask “what can I get out of this?” Greed can take hold and lead neither party to budge, preventing the resources from getting to where they need to be
Yesterday we got to celebrate Thanksgiving at Mighty Oak before the school went on their holiday break. This year we decided to have a more intimate meal and instead of doing the whole school at once, we did one class at a time. Parents were allowed to attend lunch with their children and sit down and enjoy a meal with them. We were blessed to have Lou Lou in Middletown provide the food as well as many helping hands from their team to serve food to our families.
In September 2023, I had been studying for my Master’s in creative writing and teaching as a graduate assistant for the English department at my university. After spending a week in the hospital, I knew the best decision for me was to drop out. My choice hinged upon one crucial factor– I hated teaching… or at least I thought I did.
I generally don’t get too involved in holidays but it is hard to not have a lot of fun at breakfast as all the kids come dressed up in their costumes. That fun was not the only bright spot in the week. In the week of the holiday that celebrates death, the Love City community has had three babies born.
When nothing seems to be going right, when chaos seems to surround you every step you take, when you seem stuck in a rut. Where does your mind go, what do you do to get things back on track again. A lot of times when things seem to be getting too chaotic around Love City, whether it is issues in the neighborhood or feeling like there is not enough time in a day, the famous phrase “every little thing is gonna be alright” tends to pop up.
It never ceases to amaze me the amazing generosity that people have towards our community at Love City. This can express itself in many different ways whether people donate fiscally, with their time, or through other resources. This has only become even more tangible as we now get to see 5-10 people a week coming to donate goods to Merriment.
There are so many beautiful moments that we get to be a part of at Love City. Many of these moments are interactions that we have, relationships that we build, or events that we take part in. But sometimes, there are moments that we get to just be witnesses to. I got to witness one of these moments at Porkland a couple weeks ago. An amazing Kingdom moment that I got to just watch unfold in all of its splendor before me.
I had just decided not to return back to college in person. I wanted to stay at Love City and finish my degree online. Shawn said he had the perfect role to make sure I could manage work and my homework. All I had to do was sit at the front desk and check in students for open gym. A week later, ballroom construction began and the checkout and open gym entrance moved to the back cafe.
If you track the journey of Jesus and his sayings throughout his proclamation of the Kingdom, you can see how they adapt to his crowd. In the rural hills among the working class of Galilee you get parables about farming, carpentry, and common life. Then, as the narrative approaches Jerusalem, the parables begin to switch more towards wealth and religious tradition.
It can happen anywhere, at any moment. It can be scheduled, unscheduled, done with a lot of noise or silently. Sometimes people don’t even know that it is going on, they just know that something is different. It is difficult to explain to people because it is normal at Love City, but some people may only truly experience a few times in their lives. It is being in the Spirit with others, in the body of Christ, the Church.
Imagine being ten years old, you are living in the middle of a pandemic that no one has an answer for, you turn on the news to hear about injustice and rioting in your city, you're told you are going to school online for an unknown amount of time, away from being able to socialize with people. It was an unprecedented, uncertain time for many of us, but imagine being ten years old with all that going on.
The sweet smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins wafting throughout the cafe. The shoes squeaking on the gym floor. The sleepy faces of middle schoolers contrasting the joyful laughter of kindergarteners. It’s a typical Mighty Oak morning, and it’s almost that time again. The first day of Mighty Oak comes next Wednesday. New faces, names, stories, teachers, schedules, a new school year dawns on us. A school year that promises one thing only, amazing stories of the power of Love.
If you have ever read scripture, you may have come across something like what is above. The above is actually only four generations of more than ten that tell the genealogy of Adam to Noah. If you are anything like me, you may have skipped over these seemingly endless lists of names and numbers whose only purpose seems to be to overload the brain with words and numbers that it will never use.
The wilderness, or the desert, is a term I have heard used to describe periods of spiritually difficult times. Times of despair, angst, and confusion. It is also a term I have heard used to describe Portland and other similar neighborhoods, food deserts and economic deserts, wastelands of dilapidated houses, shuttered businesses, and closed down hospitals. When you picture a desert in your mind you probably conjure up images of brutal heat and barren land void of signs of life.
When we were thinking about how to communicate the community impact that a thrift store could have, the first thing that came to our mind was a cycle. If you follow our social media pages you may have seen the graphic that we made to show the way our store operates. It starts when someone comes in to shop, it continues when a purchase is made, and then they are able to enjoy the item they purchase, and the cycle is brought back to the start when they decide to donate back to us.
