There is little-to-no opportunity for anything. Life is unaffordable. Crime is rising. Law enforcement is dwindling in numbers. Schools are failing.
I would never in a million years suggest that anyone live
in Stockton.
With that being said, I find it difficult to believe that
this has been one of the most extraordinary weeks of my life.
I’ve enjoyed being home…in Stockton.
I’ve enjoyed seeing friends from high school. I like being less than two hours away from
San Francisco. I love being near my
family. I love reconnecting with old
friends. I’ve enjoyed the vast diversity
of cultures here.
In pushing away so much of my past I pushed away memories of some of the good things.
And for as long as I’ve been a Christian I’ve looked at Stockton
with my nose turned up, saying, “There’s no God in this city.”
Sitting in church today, I felt God there. Moving.
Just because I hadn’t felt Him before while living in Stockton, I was making the unfair assumption
that nobody else knew Him either.
I watched the people around me while they sang. All types of Asians. Mexicans.
Different socioeconomic classes of white. All singing together.
I met a couple today.
Russ and Tracy.
By the pastor, we were told to rate ourselves on a scale of how close to
God we really were…Russ looked at me, a complete stranger, and admitted he had
only been at a ‘2’, putting on the mask of busy-ness. He told a stranger,
honestly, where he was in his walk with Christ. How many people in the Bible Belt would admit the same? Claiming myself to be at a ‘6’ I was even embarrassed to say that number
outloud.
So within this week I’ve discovered much...about this city, about the people in it, about myself.
What I haven't discovered yet is...where do I go from here, God?
