Friends

I admit that I live a crazy life between being around hormonal teens, seniors who want you to drop everything immediately to be with them and then my own adult kids who now are into the marriage/wedding part of life. I am fortunate to have access to many new friends as I live out my normal routine of being in our neighborhood doing mercy church.

As this Saturday approaches and we do a neighborhood cleanup project I am reminded of how great God has been at bringing me into a great group of friends who are all really different. I think of an older principal at one of the charter schools where a lot of our teens attend. She and her assistant principal have become great friends. We are in the process of looking to the fall to do a 2 week community service program for their seniors. So when I invited these ladies to be part of our project this coming Saturday I had a sneaking suspicion that the principal would be the only adult helping out.

I am excited about another charter school helping out that will have lots of teachers and students helping out. My main guy is a rather off the wall type of teacher who has a passion for making a difference. It will be fun working with him. I know that his principal probably thinks he is crazy at times. He is literally dragging a group of his frat brothers from Flagstaff to help out. I also have another older friend who is a pioneer in his church bringing a group of 10 or so to help out. I respect him big time because he is going against the flow with getting people who are busy and have everything to sacrifice a Saturday morning.

I have been blessed by having college interns from ASU and GCU who are helping out. This group has become my hands and feet in making life happen at New City – Barrio Nuevo. I am like a father/grandpa with them and fret the day when the semester finishes and they don’t have to help but choose to help and volunteer their time.

As I respond to a face time call from my dad, I am blow away that he accidently pushed the right button on his ipad actually called me. My dad is becoming a new friend in a different way. He has lots of challenges with his life at present. He is teaching me the simple meaning of being there for him on his terms not mine. It is easy for me to be programed to do things my way and force him to fit into my time frame and not his.

I know that as Alzheimer’s attacks my dad’s mind that he will be less able to communicate his feelings and expectations. I know that day will come, I don’t wish it upon him or anyone but I want to be prepared to still be there for him regardless of whether he is nice to me, recognizes me or is able to still do his TV or at least mess it up by pushing the wrong button on his remote. I am beginning to realize that life is more about the little messes we experience each day than a neighborhood project where 200 people will appear out of now where and do some serious work in a few hours.

I admit that I am a people person that can be energized by a group or crowd but I am also learning how to be still and read and listen to the voices of different people from different cultures. I will talk on the phone later today and reflect with a friend about doing local missions. I am the activist type who is able to draw many together to do something they wouldn’t do on their own. So I am going to be somewhat radical to this church in pushing them to get outside their box and be more able to relate to the marginalized in their world in their neighborhood.

I know I must look like a rich white guy sitting at my Starbucks on my mac air blogging. I so much want all of my friends to meet each other in a community service context where we all are stretched to do something that wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t come together. As I am blogging another guy sits down waiting for his drink and I say it’s early isn’t it. He admits that his nighttime activity had caught up with him. He asks me if I work and I want to say what do you think I’m doing right now. I explain my life focus and obviously because he’s a Black Man he acts impressed with the fact I work with African American teens, grandmas and families.

I had better finish up because my dad did just called and expects me to be at his place before 7AM. I have a busy day ahead with conference call, neighborhood cop meeting, lunch meeting listening to some guy who is supposed to be an expert on missions, pick up my paint and deliver it and do some prep for Saturday. I guess it is a normal day that will finish with dinner with some special friends who are newly weds.