[Gratitude: For This City]

I spent most of my weekend at home, in Appleton. I have been reconciling myself to this city as well. God has begun to give me his heart for this place. I have been lamenting the brokenness of my city, the abuse, the poverty, the greed, the selfishness.

But I see that He is not absent. He is present here. God is at work. 

There are beautiful parts about my city as well.
I find beauty in the kindness of the workers at the Y, which became a home and a haven for me in high school.
I find beauty in the weekly farmers market downtown on Saturday mornings.
I find beauty in the trails in Memorial and Plamann parks.
I find beauty in the creation of productions at my high school, especially Holiday Classics.
I find beauty in the Thrivent bike trail and the way families seem to flock there to the point where I can't go there without seeing someone I know.
I find beauty in Mrs. Reich's EBD classroom as the children there learn more about what it means to be loved than anything academic.
I find beauty in the way this city gets around Christmas; the bright lights, the decorated downtown, the Christmas parade filled with families and runners and little ones, and the tree in city park.
I find beauty in the way God sees this city, in the way he is going to redeem it, in the way he will make this place new as he brings restoration to all of creation.