Monday Night Madness

You've all heard of March Madness. You've all heard of Monday Night Football. Well, every Monday evening at the McCabe house we have Monday Night Madness. The name suits because it is characterized by an ever growing tension about just how everything is going to turn out, and football is almost always involved in one way or another. On these evenings Julie and I have told the kids in our community that they're welcome to come by and hang out. We open up the house to them, feed them, I plan different activities each week, and it is always fun and unpredictable. We never know who is going to drop by. We do have a few regulars who now think that they "live here," but we also have new kids who show up each week.

Today my afternoon started with me shopping at K-Mart for about twenty squirt guns. I love how every Monday afternoon, at some random shopping center on the east end of the city, you'll generally find me, a grown man, standing in line waiting to purchase whatever I can possibly think of that might hold the attention of the kids in my neighborhood (think nerf dart tag, or water balloons, or rockets... you get the picture).

The kids showed up early today, and Julie prepared an amazing meal. One of our favorite things to do is to have everyone sit down together for a healthy meal (unfortunately for the kids, Julie is constantly pushing fruits and vegetables on them... that's a small price to pay to gain admittance to Monday Night Madness at the McCabe's house). It's a chore to get everyone quiet for the blessing, but we all pray together (almost always, one of the kids from the neighborhood volunteers to pray). I think that dinner time should be a special time for everyone, and our time together with the kids in our neighborhood is special.

After dinner tonight we played the Wii, mixed some beats on the keyboard, talked about how the day went at school for everyone, played nerf basketball in my living room, and then we all headed outside for a game of football at the Faison Primary field. Although emotions ran high and there was plenty of trash talk, there were also several teachable moments and opportunities for all of us to learn self control and sportsmanship. Sports teaches us many lessons about life. One of my favorite things about living in Homewood is that I can easily attract a pick up game of football at just about any given moment of the day. Word spreads quickly around here.

We were all hot after the football game, so it was definitely time for a squirt gun battle. The boys (and Kyra) entertained themselves for a good 45 minutes with the water battle in my back yard. Everyone munched on dessert and went home, although not without stuffing some corn cobs and broccoli and carrot pieces in their pockets as ammo for the ensuing food fight that took place on their walk home along Richland and Tioga streets. I guess the draw to food fighting is universal. As I watched from a distance as vegetables flew through the air, I thought, "What have I done?"

Just as I sat down to rest and reflect on another night of Monday Night Madness, there was a knock at the door. One of my LAMP mentees stopped by to tell me that he had eighth grade graduation tomorrow morning, and no nice clothes to wear. Although he is only in eighth grade, he happens to be over six feet tall and 225 pounds. I gave him a few nice outfits to try on, and about thirty minutes later a pair of my black slacks and my only white dress shirt had been donated to a worthy cause. We offered him some dessert.

As he ate at my kitchen counter, I got a phone call telling me that a former mentee that I had lost touch with had been found. He was in foster care very close to where I live, and his foster parent was very open to a visit from me. After the phone call I praised God because of the opportunity I had been given to reconnect with a young man who truly benefits from LAMP. Then, I turned my attention to the young person still chowing down on dessert at my kitchen table, and he informed me that the brother of one of my former LAMP mentees had just been killed on the North Side. My heart sank. How could something like this happen? I went from joy to grieving in a single minute.

This is life in the city. This is incarnational leadership. I experience community. I experience the joy of tremendous break throughs, and I experience the pain of brokenness. I embrace unpredictability. I know that somehow, God is in charge of all of this. It is simply my job to be obedient. I will never be able to fully thank God for the joys he has given me in this life, nor will I ever be fully able to understand the pain that this community experiences on a daily basis. I do know, though, that that is exactly where God wants me. With one hand outstretched to the pain of the world, and with one hand outstretched to Christ. Welcome to Monday nights in Homewood. There's no place I'd rather be.