Crossroads. Wait, "Crossroads?" No. "Bleeding Hearts and the Neighborhoods they Walk Through."

Put the poetry on hold for now. Candler Park is awash with the blue of the morning. This weather is heavenly, this hot chocolate I'm drinking is just as good. I've been without coffee since Ash Wednesday, in an overtly religious attempt to give myself to sacrifice and consecration. It's funny, some of the conversations I have about lent. Catholics are fun people, especially the nominal ones. There aren't nearly as many Catholic folks down here as there were in St. Louis, so it's a treat when I come across one. Fun conversations.
This should serve as an update of sorts, as the cryptic and abstract nature of most of my posting doesn't allow too much concrete information sharing. So, as a thesis, life is going well down here, in all of its infinite ups and downs. We had a St. Patrick's Day Young Life club last night, which was a lot of fun. I like these people that I'm walking alongside. I need to push deeper into them and into their lives, to cultivate some deeply rooted community, and see it develop the way that it's "supposed" to. It's a bit daunting, what with my next nine months of plans taking me far away from Atlanta, only to return in jilted uncertainty. Colorado begins in May, and once that is completed, it's on to Spain for the winter. I won't be back to A-town until January of 2012. That's a long time to be away. So, these relationships that I'm fighting for have almost a ticking-clock kind of pretense. But, maybe not. Maybe I should just give of myself and hold all of these relationships loosely and trust God to use me for his beautiful purposes. Maybe I'm only supposed to be a part of this city for a time, and then to move forward and chase Jesus somewhere else. I'll have ample opportunity to find out, I think. I do love Atlanta, and with every conversation that I have, with every life I invest in, every secret part of myself I give away, I grow more and more fond of this place. But, surrendering control to Jesus is something that I want to be good at. So, I'm going to fight for that.
I'm off this weekend to Nashville for a bachelor party for my buddy Ryan Bates with 10 other guys. We'll see how that goes. I don't ever get crazy, so hanging out with crazy guys for an entire weekend should yield mixed results. Should be interesting. Off to it.