Communities and Conflict: When It's Not All Flowers and Sunshine

Yesterday, I told you about our bike ride, and how much we have come to love our little town, and just love living back in Michigan again, in general.

And that is all true.

But there are times when I really do not like where we live, if I am going to be completely honest. Yes, there are glorious days when there are flowers and sunshine. But then there are the other days, when the darkness of the world creeps in, casting an overcast gloom over the view.

For starters, I need to say that I knew what I was getting in to when we chose to move near a college town. College towns are wacky. They have some unconventional notions, to be sure. And they celebrate things that would never fall under my radar...Hash Bash, for example. Yes, an entire weekend devoted to the smoking of marijuana. Initially, I thought Ann Arbor's wackiness was over-hyped, like Austin, Texas. But no. It's pretty much truth.

Sometimes, it can be hard to live as a Christian in a world that seems to be so diametrically opposed to God's word on a daily basis.

For example, a few months back, our wonderful local school system decided to read a very controversial book about human sexuality and gender identity to kindergarteners and elementary age kids. Kindergarten, folks. Remember kindergarten when you were little? A graham cracker, a story time, a coloring page? Now, we take these little captive audiences and push social agendas.

And the worst part? The school tried to "bury the lead" by mentioning the reading as a footnote aside in a newsletter, barely giving parents the information they needed to make informed decisions. It caused a big stink in our community, understandably.

Not my favorite day to be a resident.

Recently, I decided to join an online forum of local moms. I thought it might be a good resource for future articles. During Holy Week, the moms decided to post how furious they were with the school systems that canceled school for Friday. Yes, Good Friday. Their argument was that these are public schools. Why should they close for a religious holiday? What about all the other religions? Do they close for every one of their holidays, too?

Someone had to point out that many teachers would take off that day in religious observance, and there would not be enough substitutes to cover. Angry moms were angry about their Christian teachers.

It was a sad day to be a resident.

Jesus said "In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

And he has overcome the world...on the cross, dying for our sins, taking our punishment. But not just dying on the cross, but also conquering death and the grave on Easter morning! Alive, so that we might have eternal life with him.

I confess, I let the world get me riled up sometimes.

But I also do not want to sit back and let Christ's church and his Word get trampled on and steam rolled by the current culture and latest social cause. I want to push back.

And so I find small ways. I interject faith into my stories whenever possible. I look for the positive. I share a scripture verse. I'm a little bolder, a little more vocal.

I recently interviewed a young woman for a story who is a new transplant here, too. We met at a coffee shop and shared our stories and a little bit of our backgrounds. And yes, we even shared our faith. She really was delightful, and I wanted to marry her off to one of my sons so she could be my daughter-in-law. LOL!

When we were leaving, she hugged me and said "It's nice to meet another believer here!"

Wow.

There are a lot of people in this world who need to meet believers.

I need to be a confessing Christian every day, in every place, in every situation.

This home, this community, with all of its virtues and its faults, is where God has placed me for this season. And there are people who need hope, who need to know that Jesus has overcome the world.

The days may be dark, but I am going to continue to do my best and bring the flowers and sunshine to each day.

Blessings, cafe friends!