Death Comes Quickly

I live in the neighborhood I was raised in. I'm in the same house as a matter of fact.

When my dad bought this house it was the first one built on the block. That was over 50 years ago. He built a garage some years later. From what I've heard, that caused trouble between he and my mom. She was worried that they couldn't afford it. Of course, that was before credit and the issue was the money coming out of their savings. Money comes easy these days through numerous credit offers. You don't need savings anymore and people have a lot more financial problems.

The neighborhood has changed a lot through the years. Most of the original families are gone. They were hard working people trying to raise good kids. There was only one family on the block where divorce was part of the picture. As kids, all we knew is that their dad was gone. Divorce was a foreign concept.

Gang members and drug dealers now inhabit the house across the street. It's common knowledge among the other neighbors. Some feel there is nothing they can do about it. Others don't want to get involved. And some are finding out what they can do and doing it.

Sometimes I look at the young people that hang around that house and find it hard to believe they are involved in criminal activity. The two older boys in the house have been arrested on gun related charges. The woman of the house is one of those "cool" moms who covers for her kids and makes sure they don't learn from their mistakes.

A week ago, one of their buddies was killed in a drive-by shooting. Things have been a little quieter than normal but you can tell they don't get it. Life goes on and death comes quickly.

In my morning prayers, I pray two things for the people across the street. First, I pray that I would love them. Second, I pray that they would end up in jail. Maybe removed to that place, they would turn to Jesus and their life could be changed.

Philip