107 degrees and loving it! Well, not today. but that's the weather that greeted us the day we moved to Stockton. Almost the second we got out of the car we could feel the sun scorching our skin. Immediately we realized we had not just moved to Stockton, we moved to a completely different world. Raegan and I lived in Southern California for more than 10 years. We love the 70 degree year round weather, and the walks from our house to the beach to watch the sunset over the ocean or to listen to the crashing of the waves. Friends...Family...Comfort! Would things ever change? If you had asked me a while ago, I would have said no. But here we are in Stockton.
It really is a different world up here. The weather is different, the streets are different, the stores are different, the music, the trends, the cars, the houses, the schools, they are all different! Most of all the people are different. How are they so different, why are they so different? They are different in the way they talk, different in the way they drive, different in the way they dress, different in the tattoos (EVERYWHERE), people don't smile, they don't hide who they are, they don't hide the way they feel, they don't hide what they are thinking. The people here are raw and real! You don't just say "how you doin" if you don't really want to hear it. If you ask them then you better be prepared to listen. Listening is not one of the gifts that I possess, my wife can attest to that, but the Lord has been working overtime on me to make me a better listener. I keep asking why, why are they so different? Why are they so raw?
The people here are really devastated. They are hurt. Almost everyone you talk to is dealing with radical issues in life. Divorce, death, suicide, neglect, abuse, foreclosure, bankruptcy, no job, no home, no money, no family or friends. They have been stripped clean of the things in life that we hide behind. There is no car to show that they have it financially together. They don't have nice clothes to show they go shopping for the latest fashions. They don't have a house to keep up with the Jones'. They don't have a job to give them status. They don't go out to eat at the nicest restaruants. So who are they? ... They are real! ... They are raw! They are who they are, and to tell you the truth....I wish I could have been like them! You ask.."What? are you crazy?" No! I'm not crazy. It's when you have failed trying to do it on your own that you know you can't do it alone. It's when you have fallen into a rut so deep that you can't get out on your own and your willing to accept help. It is when you have no one in life to turn to that you finally realize who really cares. It is moments in life like these that you let down your guard, you set aside your adgenda and you decide you are willing to surrender it all to Jesus. I'm not talking about the 20 minutes you give him during morning devotion or the 2 hours at church on Sunday or at home group during the week. I mean that the people here are in a place where they are ready to let the Gospel REVOLUTIONIZE their lives! The Grace of God melts their heart because the wall, that we normally build as a facade for others to see so they don't see what is really in our hearts, is broken down and His Grace can freely flow in.
These are the people we talk to. These are the people we are meeting. These are people we Love.
THIS IS STOCKTON.
