I'm going to lose friends over this one...

So I feel like I should say why I've been absent, yet again... family. rest. vacation. family. blah blah blah.  Summer is OVER! (well for us, ha, not so much! It's like so hot, I don't even shower anymore because I sweat more after the shower and hardly anyone who isn't in a million $ home has ac by the beach.  And, let me tell ya, the little window units don't really do anything for our set up - open living, dining, kitchen...too big of space to cool down.  First world problems, yep!)  Anyways, I'm so ready for the fall.  Our summers are crazy busy and this fall is hopefully one of rest (idiot - you have three kids 4 and under.  This does not equal rest).  But I tell you, I have only committed to 3 things a week.  Nurture, (my mom's group at my old church, yes old - shut up, I love that group and I'm not leaving them.  My best friends are there.) And my new mom's group (at my new church- YES, shut up.  My "going to be" new best friends are there.  Haven't you heard the song, "Make new friends, but keep the old...")  And thirdly, being a life group leader at our new church.  MMMMmmmm... I LOVE my new church.  I kinda wish I could french kiss it, I love it so much.  I'm just so excited about what is happening at my little community.  Jes and I were asked to share a little on Sunday morning about caring for orphans and adoption (in our series, Who Is My Neighbor).  I can't say much more or I'll spoil it, but I'm just really excited.

Ok, so our church. Series. Who is my neighbor. Last week we talked about loving our vulnerable neighbor, including our undocumented neighbors.  Yes!  And I LOVE it.  (Lets not debate this now - lets just be Jesus to the ones who are here)  This spurred on a thought, accompanied with conversations I have had with new and old dear friends, let me tell ya lovies, that I CANNOT get out of my head.  This is where I'm going to lose friends... wait for it.

Background A, brief. ha! Sammy, to send or not to send to K next year at 5.5?? Thinking maybe yes, instead of my original plan of sending both my twins at 6.5 and 6. (another debate for another time).  We are in an amazing school zone (not all schools in our district are deemed "amazing" by others).  We might get kicked out of our home if our new owners knock our place down to build million $ town homes in place of our single family home and the duplexes that surround it.  Where to live?  Half of our friends live on the east side of town (where we are now) Half live on the other side of the freeway 1 mile from us in an area we'll call C.P.  Beautiful homes.  Amazing community of people.  School in the neighbor that NO ONE SENDS THEIR KIDS TO.  Why?, you ask.  Well, lets go back to our undocumented neighbors.  Rumor has it, that the majority of the attendance of the school is Spanish speaking with no to little papers.  MY GUESS, is that there isn't much parent involvement due to a) fear of judgment, b) don't feel equipped, c) doesn't know that they are needed or wanted. Pure speculation.

Background B. I'm a teacher.  Credentialed K-8.  I taught in this district.  Not at CP school.  I did do my student teaching at a school "like" CP.  At the time, my thought was "if ever I have a blond hair, blue eye babe - they will not go here because the one that does is pushed into a corner and does busy work all day while I try to get the other 25 kids in my 2nd grade class to learn their colors and letters IN ENGLISH."

Background C.  (where I might begin to lose some conservative friends....) Totally off topic, but a "must know" for this.  Jesse and I LOVE the LGBT community (is that PC anymore?).  We HATE how the CHURCH at large treats this community like the "least of these" because they are absolutely NOT.  And, I'm so sorry to all my friends who have been damned by the church.  Sometimes I think, man - the JESUS that the "Church" is portraying is not the Jesus I know.  Another post for another time.  I also know some of my friends in this community who HATE Jesus because of how the Church has treated them and I HATE that.  I think Jesus mourns over his children treating his other children like sh*t.  All that to say, Jes and I have thought about (don't make plans because God always changes them... yata yata yata.) uprooting our family one day and getting 10 of our friends to uproot their families and all move into the middle of this community in San Fran to do nothing but live and do life and show them a different Jesus with NO strings attached.  To become their friends because we want to.  To live in their community because we WANT to.  We would not be moving there so they will lose the lifestyle (is it wrong even? again, another post on my liberal thoughts another day ... and I just lost more friends. haha.).  And we wouldn't be moving there to make some straighties...hahahaha! NO.  That's a preposterous thought, if you ask me.  We just want to radiate the love of our Jesus, so that our friends can meet this Jesus and love this Jesus that I know.  HE gets to do the changing if any changing needs to be done.

Wrestling thought now (and here's where I lose a bazillion friends...friends that I lose now, I LOVE YOU, don't hate me, I'm not judging, I'm not in your shoes yet... but I'm praying to be in your shoes, I think??!)... If I'm willing to uproot my family and 10 other families and plant us in a community that is liberal in every way possible (I'm not just talking about lifestyle), then why the hell am I not willing to uproot myself and 10 other families to invade this school.  OH WAIT, 10 of my friends live in that community already!  Why hasn't this happened yet?  I know that my community (friends) pour into this school, but why won't they send their kids there?  Couldn't much more be done to further the kingdom if we reached out to this school is such a radical way. (I have done absolutely 0 research, haven't talked to the principal, haven't visited the school.  These are just questions I am having).

I hear this from most of my friends, "But my kid loses out on good education."  ok, I get that, but the school is going to have to change if we all send our kinders there next year - all 10 of us.  Plus, again, coming from a former k-8 teacher and a reading specialist, it's kindergarten.  You can supplement at home.  You CAN.  You can probably supplement until 3rd grade pretty easily.  5th grade, maybe not so much for the typical parent.  This is NOT to say that kindergarten teachers are worthless.  They are absolutely valuable.  There are parents everywhere that in any given month would rather take a gun shot to the abdomen then to have their kid plus 25 other 5 year old kids over to teach them every day.  Not me, I LOVE kindergarten.  In 5 years, if you're hiring... pick me!

My question:  What is education?  Is it merely reading, math, science, writing, art, oh ya - history, I hate history?  Or is it life skills as well?  Is it kingdom teaching?  Is it teaching diversity?  Is it befriending these kids who aren't like your family and then maybe one day that will have an adverse affect.  Can I dare say, "Johnny's" whole life course could be changed because his parents and him know YOUR family.  One less gang member?  One more college student?  One more teacher one day?  One more soul in Heaven???? One more teacher blessed by the extra help and love from our families?  One more family (you?) learning what it means to "love your neighbors?"  To do LIFE with your neighbors?  

This ISN'T a "WHITES, LETS TAKE OVER THE CP SCHOOL!" (duh, Sammy is black guys)  It's a call to Christians who live in that community to come together and do life together.  Not just with the other white, middle class folk, but life WITH YOUR NIEIGHBORS... ALL OF THEM!  It's a call to stop lying about your address so that your kid can attend another school in another district.  It's a call to love on our neighbors, all of them, despite WHO they are or what documents they have. (again, don't start flooding my blog with comments about border control)  Regardless if you like it or not, they are YOUR neighbors and Jesus is very clear that we are to love them.  Yes yes yes, and to follow the rules of the land... but lucky for us, we make those rules!  :)  So, go to your local town hall meeting and fight for them to stay here now. (wow, the blood is just dripping from my heart tonight!)  (I might need to tame down if I'm going to be a pastor's wife, but I'm not one yet... not until March baby!)

But, seriously, what's it going to do if 1 family doesn't transfer out?  Very little.  What will it do if all of the families that I know DON'T transfer out and send their kids there?  More than very little . And, from one planner to the next,  Jesus could come back before tomorrow - so why the heck are you worrying about what high school your kids are going to in 9 years?  He IS coming back before my kids hit 13 because dude, I can't deal with teens.  Karma's a b*+@h and we all know what kind of teenager I was.

Easy for me to tell you what to do, huh?  Yep, totally is.  But, I kinda pray that the Lord leads us over there so that I can partner along side of you and send my kids.

KNOW, that I don't look at you with judging eyes, although you don't believe me right now.  I swear to you.      I love you all.  And, I hope that you let me wrestle this one out loud.  You might laugh at me one day, and I might laugh at me one day about this.  Or, you may never speak to me again.  I definitely told Jesse last year before we moved to our house now, it HAS to been in the east side because of the school.  I just wish that I would have thought about that more.  And if you take NOTHING away from this, well, at least you gave your eyes a good workout.  Don't hate me, please give me grace.  I'm just stumbling down this road called life, trying to decipher between rebellion by my nature and this thing called conviction that looks like rebellion sometimes to the world's eyes.

x, b