Umm, I had a baby and moved to Montana....

As you may know we have made a lot of changes this year, like having a baby, moving the across the country to Montana and we have started living on one income. Why have we done these things? Well we had the baby because he is so cute, and have moved to one income so I can stay home and wrangle that cute baby and we moved to Montana because John was offered his dream job, a job that we have been praying for, for two years. It may not have been in the location that we expected but it was without a doubt the job we were praying for. John is working with youth in our neighborhood. He hangs out with them after school, takes them to Younglife activities, meets their families and tries to invest in their lives. CLDI (Community Leadership Development Inc. the organization he works for) owns a house on one of the rougher streets on the Southside and John is working on renovating this house to become a youth spot. Where they will have a computer lab, homework help, cooking demos, and general fun. You can read more about CLDI here http://cldibillings.org/.

We know that a lot our friends and family are in the same boat as us, the budgeting, pinching pennies, and stealing your parents netflix password boat. Some of you may even be living in your friends basement like we are. Which we love. But we are lacking two things. We have stretched out budget so tight John is selling his plasma like a college kid and we are still short 360.00 a month and we are asking you for help.

While we are not strangers to the support raising front, it has been a long time since we have done this, therefore we are trying to start a new base list of people who are interested in supporting us and the ministry John is doing. The 360.00 we need breaks down as follows, one Medical Insurance for John and me, Caleb is covered so don't worry about that. Two a membership to the YMCA. Why do we need this you may ask? Well maybe it's because I am staying at home now so I am couped up more or maybe it's because Montana winter is longer, but I feel like I am living in a Laura Ingalls Wilder book, and we need and indoor place to play to keep mom from going crazy.

If you are interested in joining us in our endeavours, to be neighbors, to people on the Southside of Billings then please send me your e-mails, your addresses and your phone numbers and we will be in more formal contact with you. You can private message me on facebook or e-mail me at melissasevena@gmail.com

Why I live in a "bad" neighborhood

Moving to a new place means meeting new people, meeting new people means lots of questions about, where we are from, why did we come here, what are we doing now.

Because of this people have felt the need to present John and me with the fact that we live in a "bad" neighborhood, and that we are planning to move into the "bad" part of the "bad" neighborhood. When John and I lived in Binghampton/Highland Heights we were told this and now that we have moved to the Southside of Billings we are being told this, but no one ever asks why we have decided to move into the the "bad" neighborhood, and I just felt like I wanted to share why I live in a bad neighborhood.

Isaiah 41:10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Psalm 23:4a Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil because you are with me.

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?

I do not fear a bad neighborhood because I know that God is with me. I know that God loves my son and husband more than I do. I know that He loves me more than my husband does. I know He has our be interest  in mind when calling us to a new home. But I am not sure God calls us to be "safe." Safe is a very nice word that is used by people with great intentions saying things that really get into the heart of mothers. Don't you want your family to be safe? Yes I do. But I know that God tells me to be bold, not safe, God tells me to not fear, not be safe, God tells me to love, and love is not safe. But even though He doesn't tell me we will be safe He tells me He will be with me.

God has commanded me to love and care for the poor. He has commanded everyone to love and care for the poor. I find it really hard to love and care for the poor if I am not around the poor. If I am not poor.

I think God wants us to be intentional about where we choose to live. If I do not live or work or send my son to school with people who need Christ then how will I meet people who need Christ. If God has commanded me love and serve the poor how can I say  I will help you but I am too good to live life with you. I won't send my son to your failing school. I won't put my family on your decaying block. I won't make my home on your dangerous street. How will I understand the plight of the poor if I do not live among them. God came and lived among us. He gave us that example. I just find that if I am not in the midst of where I want things to change then I will not really be invested in the change. It means so much more to try and stop crime on my street then it does to stop crime across town.

I guess I live in a "bad" neighborhood because I want to be part of the change in the Southside that I want to see happen there. And if good people live in bad neighborhoods they will start to change.