where I lived #4

In the fall of 1995 I moved to Belmar, Missouri - a small trailer park type community - the homes were cheap and simple.  Small ranch ramblers - uniformly lining the streets with attached garages and cement pad driveways.  It was in a flat plain, but low set - so there was a constant smell of mildew in the area.

From the entryway there was a small living room directly on the right, and a kitchen straight ahead, with a dining room in-between completing the small circle.  There may or may not have been a sliding door that looked out into the backyard where a couple of spaniels ran around - hyper but good hunting dogs.

To the left of the entryway was a bathroom on the right my room on the left, and there must have been two more bedrooms at the end - but I can't quite picture these anymore.  There are a lot of details in the home I can't picture.  I know there was a basement with another bedroom.  I can picture the double sink in the kitchen, and under the sink in the bathroom.  I can picture my bed with its pink comforter and high set mattress with posts - I loved that bed, but can't picture the dresser, closet, or even the window in the room.

I had come to Kansas City for a discipleship program through a megachurch my brother Seth was a part of.  The one-year program gave Bible training and students were placed with host families connected through the church.

My host family was a couple both on their second marriage.  The father was a mechanic and former baseball pitcher with three boys.  The mother was a former musician and she could play the clarinet beautifully.  She was 40 or 41 and still hoping to have a baby, particularly she wanted a girl and so she was quite enthusiastic about having a girl in the house for practice.

I was driving a red 4-door 1986 Chevy Cavalier.  Two other students lived in the Belmar neighborhood and we carpooled for the ten-minute ride to church. School was 7am until lunch, and after lunch was typically filled with service projects.  Our Saturday mornings were devoted to helping our host family, Sunday mornings will filled different posts in the church (including parking attendants), and Mondays we were free.

It was a a year of service and study.  It was where I got pranked and my car was filled with snow.  Its where my friends cheered me on in Basketball matches.  It was where I took a road trip to Colorado to help my brother.   It was where I took a road trip to Nebraska one day when I got lost.  It was where I got the nickname, Shu Shu.  And, it was where I remembered how to be happy and beautiful.