Goodbye to Waco (officially!)

Yesterday, thanks to the loading expertise of my sister and the master unpacking of my dad, I moved all my furniture out of my apartment in Waco (it was quite an adventure... more on that later). While I have been living in Norman for the past 2 and a half months, my living room and kitchen furniture were still in Waco. Pictured here, my roomate Heather and I waving goodbye in front of our apartment.

Side story on this sweet apartment:
This was the first apartment complex built in Waco. When it was built, it was in the middle of a budding wealthy neighborhood. Over time, the apartment, and the whole neighborhood fell into deep decline. After years of wear and tear (and after it had been shut down due to illegal drug dealings) our friends Summer and Peter Ellis bought the complex and renovated it. (She is also an awesome jewelry designer... Check out her handiwork: summerellis.blogspot.com) Thanks to Peter's business know-how and Summer's classy decorating style, it is now a happy home right in the middle of the still impoverished neighborhood. It looks like one big house, but it is actually four units: two on top and two on bottom. We enjoyed a close community in the complex because each unit was rented by young adults in our close-knit church. Located one block from the church, this complex allowed many of the training school students to live in close proximity to the church and enabled us to minister to the poor literally right out our front door.

The renovation of this apartment is, to me, a picture of what it looks like when God renovates a life surrendered to Him. The apartment was built with attention to beautiful details and handcrafted with such purpose, just like when God made man (Genesis 1). After years of neglect and wear and tear from the world, the apartment needed some serious help! I think God would love to come in our lives and do the same with us. He wants to mend the brokenness of our hearts; patch up the places where we've been tainted by the world (Isaiah 61). He wants to completely restore us to the original intention He had in mind when He created us. Now, the apartment complex stands like a beacon of hope in the midst of a still broked neighborhood, beckoning to the people that it is not too late and no one is too far gone to be restored.