I'm trying to get used to a rainier climate, perhaps even investing in an umbrella. It seems like everywhere we served in Texas was in severe drought condition--broken only by floods of biblical proportion . Maybe I should spend time reflecting on that a bit, but shall move on. It is exciting to see people in our church taking steps to become more intentional about living as good Neighbors in their Neighborhoods. We have at least 20 who are adopting their streets/blocks to build relationships and a sense of Real Community. Twenty didn't sound like a lot to me until I started to think through the ripple effect this will have in neighborhoods throughout our city as their inhabitants grow closer together and seek to live in deeper relationships . Randy Frazee's tips from Willow Creek's Keeping Up with the Jones' have been helpful--getting outside more, inviting people to come over, the 10 minute rule, etc. Being neighborly is not hard, but our current mindset of doing life outside of our neighborhoods works against building real community with our closest neighbors. We just need to make some shifts in thinking and be present where we live. ------------------------------------------------ I started this entry on Monday. Today it is quite the opposite in weather--80 degrees today and dry! I am still trying to find out who won what from yesterday's election. I was looking forward to reading my morning Paper, but discovered that it wasn't delivered. What a morning to not have a paper! It didn't look like anyone else on my street got them either. I did see on the news that Cedric Glover won our local mayoral race, becoming Shreveport's first black mayor. Being a new resident here, I was not current on the race and did not know one candidate from the other-- and was not able to vote, but it is good to see a good voter turnout and to see history made. Congratulations Cedric. I am preparing for our "Afternoon Encounter" service this afternoon and ran across an article about this week's lectionary readings and preparation for thanksgiving by Peter Gomes on the Christian Century website. Gomes does a fine job of tying Veteran's Day in with it as well. If you see my paper, let me know.