One Year.

It has been one year to the day - yesterday - that Mark and I were accosted by our drunken neighbor. Thinking back to a year ago, resting wasn't really an option. Bree and I grabbed some belongings, I remember specifically getting our wedding album, and got in the car and drove up to my in-laws house to sleep that first night. Mark and Christa left and went to a hotel with their kids. We did not feel safe in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our church building.

A year later, the uncertainty has left, the feeling of safety has returned.

Although our neighbor was arrested on Thursday night, and rearrested the following Sunday no charges were followed through with from the physical altercation. Although, he does still know where we live, he could possibly still be dealing with multiple personalities, we no longer walk up and down 1st Ave with a fear David-Michael-Scott might turn up and cause further pain.

Living in the city is an interesting thing. Through our coffee house, we try and build community. We try and wrap our neighbors with the ability to know one another, look out for one another, and love one another. Living in the city, in the neighborhood, provides the opportunity for greatness to be achieved in the relationships of those you come in contact with. But with this greatness does come great responsibility. Our actions one year ago, speak to the kind of people we want to be - people of Christ, people of love, people of peace.

It has been one year since I was for the first time faced with the need to protect - my family, my friends, my home, my church, and even my neighborhood.