When we moved almost a year ago, one of the things that we were very excited about was living right on the largest park in the city. We had all kinds of dreams of spending hours meeting people and allowing the children tons of exposure to language and play. As the year moved forward, we discovered the lush allure of the park had a really big down side. The park is constantly crowed with people from all over the city. It is rare to run into the same people over again. This made it hard for Matt & I to build relationships with adults and made it unsafe for William and Grace to go out and play without
supervision. The neighborhood children were allowed to go out alone, but because there were no adults to monitor them, they were often mischievous and acted like little gangs often vandalizing cars, buildings and park equipment. William and Grace held their own most of the time, but the teasing and constant pestering was beginning to wear on them. Grace is very outgoing, but even she would often vote to simply play alone in her room. However, when we were told we were going to need to find a new apartment, we immediatety began looking around the park. It still seemed in our minds to be the best location in the city. It was close to our store, friends, most major markets, etc., and despite the constant craziness of the park kids, we thought it was the best option for exercise and play. I confess as the month wore on in looking for a house, I was quite discouraged. I really did not want to move AGAIN away from
what had become familiar. My neighbors were just opening up, and the local bakers and grocers were finally comfortable with us. The day that Matt found our current apartment I was in an awful mood. Perhaps, it was that I knew God was going to take us through a bigger change than I wanted, or maybe it was just that fact that I realized once again I had assumed upon what God was doing. Whatever the case, I pitched a big fit. Yep, you read that right. As Matt kept driving what seemed like further and further and further out of the city, my aggravation level kept going further and further and further up! When I saw the building, I refused to even go up and look at the flat. SOOOOO, Matt patiently and with a great deal of love began turning around (W & G were almost in tears!). PTL, the Father got a hold of me and I realized my stupidity! I apologized, and Matt turned back again so that we could look at the apartment. The rest of the story most of you know. It took about a month to get moved and some water and electrical issues worked out, but here we are. Today as I looked down at our parking lot and watched William and Grace playing with the other kids in our building it struck me: In God's hands, a plain, flat parking lot can be a hundred times better than a park with all its walking trails and equipment. In the short time that we have been here, W&G have made real friends. The kind of kids that come to your door and ask you to come out; the kind that teach you new games and encourage you to keep trying; the kind that miss you when you aren't there; and that we miss when they aren't there. Yes, we still have to have safety rules, and finding shade in this crazy heat is a big factor, but GOD IS GOOD!! If He can take coal and make it into a diamond, he can take a parking lot and make it into playground!! We are blessed! AT
When we moved almost a year ago, one of the things that we were very excited about was living right on the largest park in the city. We had all kinds of dreams of spending hours meeting people and allowing the children tons of exposure to language and play. As the year moved forward, we discovered the lush allure of the park had a really big down side. The park is constantly crowed with people from all over the city. It is rare to run into the same people over again. This made it hard for Matt & I to build relationships with adults and made it unsafe for William and Grace to go out and play without 
supervision. The neighborhood children were allowed to go out alone, but because there were no adults to monitor them, they were often mischievous and acted like little gangs often vandalizing cars, buildings and park equipment. William and Grace held their own most of the time, but the teasing and constant pestering was beginning to wear on them. Grace is very outgoing, but even she would often vote to simply play alone in her room. However, when we were told we were going to need to find a new apartment, we immediatety began looking around the park. It still seemed in our minds to be the best location in the city. It was close to our store, friends, most major markets, etc., and despite the constant craziness of the park kids, we thought it was the best option for exercise and play. I confess as the month wore on in looking for a house, I was quite discouraged. I really did not want to move AGAIN away from 
what had become familiar. My neighbors were just opening up, and the local bakers and grocers were finally comfortable with us. The day that Matt found our current apartment I was in an awful mood. Perhaps, it was that I knew God was going to take us through a bigger change than I wanted, or maybe it was just that fact that I realized once again I had assumed upon what God was doing. Whatever the case, I pitched a big fit. Yep, you read that right. As Matt kept driving what seemed like further and further and further out of the city, my aggravation level kept going further and further and further up! When I saw the building, I refused to even go up and look at the flat. SOOOOO, Matt patiently and with a great deal of love began turning around (W & G were almost in tears!). PTL, the Father got a hold of me and I realized my stupidity! I apologized, and Matt turned back again so that we could look at the apartment. The rest of the story most of you know. It took about a month to get moved and some water and electrical issues worked out, but here we are. Today as I looked down at our parking lot and watched William and Grace playing with the other kids in our building it struck me: In God's hands, a plain, flat parking lot can be a hundred times better than a park with all its walking trails and equipment. In the short time that we have been here, W&G have made real friends. The kind of kids that come to your door and ask you to come out; the kind that teach you new games and encourage you to keep trying; the kind that miss you when you aren't there; and that we miss when they aren't there. Yes, we still have to have safety rules, and finding shade in this crazy heat is a big factor, but GOD IS GOOD!! If He can take coal and make it into a diamond, he can take a parking lot and make it into playground!! We are blessed! AT
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