I was telling Jason last night that I missed Alabama. He asked what I missed about it. I couldn’t really pin point it right away. I said it was the time of year and how cute I knew Northport must be looking right now. Its the friends I left behind for sure, that’s not even a doubt in my mind to what I miss about it. But there was something else I knew that made me miss it. Finally, it came to me, I felt safer there. The small town feel. The way folks are to perfect strangers. Its not that I feel I live in the ghetto or anything here. For goodness sakes, I live in a track housing and with wonderful neighbors. The cul-de-sack I live on is probably the friendliest one you’ll find in California. They have parties, watch each others pets and houses. When a strange car is parked on the street, phone calls are made. So at my house I feel fine, its more my town.

I don’t live in a big city in San Diego. I live away from that part actually. I do work though in the downtown part which has a lot of bars. There’s always that scene and the trouble it causes. But in the past month on the same street as my store a paperboy found a dead body. No clues to who or why. A week after that in the same parking lot my store shares there was a shooting over a parking place. Today as my mom and I drove downtown to run some errands I saw two girls no older than the age of 9 riding their bikes. I looked around for a parent type somewhere near, but it was just them. Worry came over me for these little girls. How sad is that? I’m scared for these girls in a city that’s relatively safe.

Having a burned on my heart for youth maybe I’m more sensitive to things like that, I don’t know. But the youth of today have more trouble that I did when I was their age. The Jr. Highers in the youth group amaze me in what they know about the scary world they live in. Something that was shocking to me is normal to them. What is that? I don’t want our world to go to hell in a hand basket. It sadness me greatly that I see so much sin taking over creation.

In the Christy Miller series the phrase “God-lovers” is coined. Its kinda corny, but its clear isn’t it? A Christian is a follower of Christ, got that. A God lover makes it personal doesn’t it? We are to be known by our love is what is command of us God-lovers. I know sin is in this world and forever will be on this earth. Though, I know for myself daily I have not been a good God-lover. I have not loved enough. I barely scrap the surface everyday. But by the grace of God I know I can wake up the next morning and have clean start to love more. Does the fact that we as followers of Christ don’t love enough play a role in to our messed up world? I don’t know how to answer that question. It just makes me sad that I have fear as a women to walk the streets in a free country, as a free child of God.