Getting Settled in the City

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We got to Denver Sunday morning after dropping half of our group off at the airport. It was somewhat of a somber morning knowing that we would not see the Philadelphia group until the Holy Land in January. However, our sad feelings quickly dissipated after arriving at our home in Denver. All ten of us are living in this awesome little house that was built in the 1800's close to the intersection of Downing and Colfax. It is a little tight, especially in the kitchen which seems like it was designed for a family of 4, but we make it work. We have been taking turns cooking for each other, and I have to say the Philly cheesesteaks Katie and I made for the family Tuesday night were pretty fantastic.

Our internship coordinator, Greg Fuchs, and the rest of the staff at Denver Urban Semester have helped us get used to life in the city. Our internships don't start until Tuesday, so we have been taking classes in the mornings this week followed by extensive training of the RTD, Denver's public transit system. I was nervous about public transit at first, but after using it several times, I'm incredibly comfortable and feel like I have a good grasp on how to easily get around. Riding the bus is actually really cool, you get to sit down and rest for a moment in all of the chaos of the city. You get to briefly enter the realities of the people around as you speed by on the bus. You see the sky scrapers and also the homelessness that plagues the streets of Denver. It is truly one of the greatest forms of people watching, and I have even met some interesting people on the bus. I've only been here for a couple of days, but I'm starting to fall in love with Denver. The people are awesome, the culture is cool, and the city has so much to offer.

All of our classes have been interesting. Today we met with Penny from Mile High Ministries. During her lesson, she said "love changes us, it doesn't matter if we love for 5 minutes or 10 years, love changes us." I've been chewing on that since our meeting. The truth of the matter is that we all have the desire to help those in need. For some that is giving a check to a church, buying a paper from the guy standing on a street corner, or going on a short term mission trip. These things aren't necessarily bad, but are they really fixing the root of the problem? Is it changing anything? I'm still trying to process and figure out how this fits into my life, but with the guidance of my teachers I'm starting to figure out that building relationships based on love is what changes lives.