Now that summer has arrived in Minnesota, this morning we took our weekly bike ride to the local coffee shop to take our weekly glance at the local paper.
As you can see it’s a story that is being repeated endlessly not only in the USA but worldwide, that has been dubbed ‘The affordable housing crisis.’
The neighboring City of Minneapolis has been making some significant efforts to address the problem, in contrast to our experience with the City of Robbinsdale which seems stuck between an ostrich and a dinosaur.
As I said last week we are planning to move on from here carrying the calling of our hospitable God to some other “grace space”
We have experienced in bucketfulls the truth of Psalm 68:6, that, “God places the solitary in families, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. ”
Mother Theresa was often asked what she believed was the greatest source of suffering. Her answer: loneliness. Studies are bearing out the fact that loneliness is the #1 factor in illness… and this is a growing problem! One in 5 people in England currently say they do not have a single friend!
We never went ‘looking’ for ‘solitary’ people to fill The Big Green House, but God clearly brought to us those he had selected, one by one…. over 80 of them over the 17 years we’ve lived here. Usually he had already begun dealing with the “rebellious” nature that is in us all, but is often accentuated in those whose childhood wounding has been a central role in their becoming isolated. They came with varying levels of brokenness and desperation. We saw our role as co-operating with the Holy Spirit to help people to continue to journey our of that wounded place and find healing in the Father’s love so that they could become happy healthy individuals able to integrate again as blessed family members.
Here is part of one of the testimonies we received,
…….I was essentially alone in the Midwest without anyone, without any family to lean on, wrought with grief, despair, and fear. I suffered from such severe panic attacks and unrelenting insomnia, I lost job after job due to exhaustion and emotional fragility. I became extremely ill and weak; I thought I was dying. I withdrew from all social activities and isolated myself completely, ashamed of my circumstances and utterly depressed. I saw doctor after doctor; nobody was able to help me.
I met the Kyles through a friend who was living there at the time. Their home was a place I felt loved and safe. When I finally asked to move in–and they agreed–it was, for me, the ultimate surrender. It felt like I was collapsing, finally….as I’d needed to for so many months, but couldn’t (there hadn’t been anywhere for me to ‘land’).
I experienced tremendous healing and spiritual growth: partly due to their ministering, partly due to having a safe space to finally open my heart and receive Divine love and guidance on a personal level. I changed more in that year than I ever have in my entire life, and entirely for the better. I unraveled decades of accumulated fears and limiting beliefs and patterns. I learned, for the first time, and in a way I will NEVER forget, what grace is. I would often wake up in that house and weep in gratitude and relief, finally seeing some light coming through the cracks in my shattered heart.
My time there redefined honesty, authenticity, accountability, forgiveness, humility, and redemption. I left utterly transformed: healthy, happy, and full of love and hope. I learned as well the power of community, that we need not walk through this life alone…and this has radically changed how I live and relate to others. I am a better person and better citizen of this world as a result.
We are convinced the answer to the problem headlined above is not a bigger and better institutionalized program but a smaller and sweeter family presence in our world. It is to this we will remain committed wherever we might be lead to go.