Below is a compilation of stories and snapshots of the friends (kids) I’ve spent time with in the past few years in Shelby Park (Louisville, KY). Some are funny. Some will make you wonder why you complain that your king-sized bed is a bit hard. Some will just make you think.

LUCY – 11 years old.

“It’s beautiful! So Beautiful!,” Lucy delights loudly as we walk through the clear glass doors. I have to hold onto her jacket to keep her from bumping into people as she gazes up at the ceiling and takes in all the smells and sights her 11 year old eyes have never seen before. “I smell something good.” she says with longing as dinner time grows nearer. She begs me to ‘look around’ a little longer. It’s like she is seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. Maybe to her limited experiences, it is like the Grand Canyon. To me and the hundreds of other shoppers, it was just another trip to the Oxmoor Mall. Lucy talks about the time she went to the mall like I talk about my trip to Lake Tahoe.

CARLA- 14 years old

Carla is a freshman in high school. She lives with her mom in a rental house in our neighborhood. She told me how excited she was to move into a new house on another block. Why? Because she would finally have a room with a door.

DARLENE- 9 years old

Darlene is 9 years old. “Well, I lived with my daddy till he got in some trouble. Now I live with mam maw. This is the third time we’ve moved this year. I think I’ll be going back with my daddy after school lets out and he gets out of jail.” Darlene adds with a smile, “Oh, and his girlfriend is pregnant! I love babies.” Darlene also mentions to me that she and her 3 other sisters (6, 7, and 8 years old) are going to have their own room. There will be 2 to a bed she says. I ask if the beds are big. She says “they are huge.” I’ve come to learn that huge may mean a twin or full.

JD – 4 years old.

JD: Oh, what kind of bug is this?

Me: It’s a lady bug.

JD: Where does he come from?

Me: God made him. Do you know God made everything, even you?

JD: God made me?

Me: Yep. He made the ladybugs, the grass, the sky, everything.

JD: What kind of car does God drive?

Me: ?

Lindsay Eubanks is a longtime member of Sojourn, a wife, mother and Occupational Therapist. Lindsay and her husband live in the Shelby Park neighborhood in Louisville where they are trying to learn to be better neighbors and love God more.