on worthy lives.
We have some exciting news…the Reilly’s are moving to Pittsburgh!
Our tiny purple house rests in the Pittsburgh Community, a poor and underdeveloped, working-class suburb of Atlanta. We have all the feels about leaving our home of the last 8 months to be intentional neighbors to the community members in the ‘burgh.
Our neighbors ‘Sarg’ and ‘Grandma’ have already welcomed us to the neighborhood and some days we cannot drive down the street as it is sprawling with children playing and on bikes. Laughter fills the air, but in most cases, disparity, hurt, and inadequate resources haunt the streets. The statistics are impressive. Crime outranks the national average in every category. Community members lack basic nutritional needs as they find themselves in the middle of a food desert. The schools are failing. Single mother households make up 40.2% of all households. And 49.6 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
It’s not most people’s ideal neighborhood to plant roots in, but it is the one we’re choosing to make our home.
What does intentional neighboring mean, you ask? Good question, we’re not totally sure either. But the way we are approaching it means that we’re simply going to be neighbors in the purest sense. We’re going to live, shop, walk the dog, and become friends with our new neighborhood. We’re going to seek out opportunities to share our gifts and look for areas where it will be mutually beneficial. In no way do we think we are supposed to or equipped to “change a neighborhood,” nor do we feel called to do so. Our new community is a great place to live, a place where many call home, a place of work, and much more. We do not expect to “make a difference” there, rather we want to come alongside all the awesome things already happening and find a place where we can champion others forward.
To put it simply, we believe that our lives are supposed to emulate our interpretations of the scriptures. Over and over again we see Jesus seeking relationships with the marginalized, hosting parties, and inviting others in. We see in the truest sense that all are welcome at the table of our Savior.