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How to Live Missionally in the Suburbs

As a result, I’d venture to guess that most apartment complexes are filled with single-parent families. Our complex, which is really pretty nice, has lots of single moms and very few dads. There are married couples here and there, but not a lot. My family is the anomaly. And if we choose to stay here even after saving enough to buy a house with a yard, we’ll be even more peculiar.

But we’re here to stay, and we’re praying for more people like us to move into our complex, because reaching all 545 units is still God’s goal, even when it isn’t mine. In addition to Alicia and her family, there’s a woman across the hall who just lost her home, her business, and her marriage. There’s a couple nearby who have divorce papers in the filing cabinet but just aren’t ready to pull the trigger. There’s a young mom and her fiancé living in our building who are both unemployed and have criminal records. They’re all very open when they talk to us. They’re kind of low-hanging fruit in the garden of discipleship because they have too much need to sweep under the rug.

Even Introverts Can Disciple in the Burbs

Part of the reason I’m praying for people to join us in the harvest is that I’m tired, and honestly, I really don’t love people as much as I should. I’m an introvert so I just need down time to recharge. Too often, I parley that into an excuse to withdraw from my neighbors, but I can only ignore so many knocks on my front door. For several months after we moved here, I sat in my bedroom and cursed when I heard a knock. My girls love nothing better than finding out who’s on the other side of the door, but I confess that I often want to ignore it.

Last winter was particularly difficult. I was feeling lonely; I missed my friends in Virginia, and I was bummed that I’d had to leave a job I loved. Besides, Western Washington’s notoriously gray winter was really starting to get to me. There were afternoons when I napped in bed or on the couch, and I cringed when my phone rang or a neighbor stopped by; those were days when I completely lacked motivation. Struggling with depression myself, I really didn’t feel like I had much to offer anyone else.

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