windows

The other day my "black brother" Chris stopped by the apartment but couldn't remember which door was ours. It was dusk, and we live in a brick courtyard building on the fringe of a not-so-great neighborhood. Chris stood in the courtyard and looked up at the windows until he found one that looked "like a window Ben and Anna would have." He knew it was our window because it was the happiest window in the whole building.

Pretty cool stuff. There are a lot of reasons that Ben and I chose this area. Money was a factor--our rent here is great. And the building is cool. It reminds me of where I grew up in Uptown, Chicago, with a black and white tile floor in the bathroom and paned casement windows. However, we also picked this building because we want to be like Jesus to the people around us. I've overheard some unhappy conversations through my happy windows, and I want to do something about that. That's why we are where we are. No kidding.