The Power of Staying Put…. Again

I know I posted about this in recent months, but I wanted to celebrate again the power of staying put.

Last week an InterVarsity student that I had discipled all through college and had moved to Texas showed up with her husband. She said she had wanted him to see UNCG and they were driving around Glenwood looking at the new constructions and she thought, “I wonder if Marshal and Diane are still in the same house.” Lo and behold we were.

Yesterday a Glenwood youth that we have known since he was seven years old was walking by our corner, and we were able to call out to him and speak for a  few minutes. It was so good, yet so sad, to see him because we really miss him and his life had taken a turn for the worse. But maybe seeing us yesterday reminded him that we are still here, still able to be found, still excited to see him.

I’m reading The Wisdom of Stability by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and it’s impressing on me again the good of not moving up and moving on, the good of just being in one place and having deep roots. It’s a good thing and it seems to be more and more rare in our increasingly mobile culture.