the most alert you will ever be to your town or city is right when you arrive.

call it shell-shocked, culture-shocked, sticker-shocked, or just plain ole shocked,

you experience new things every day countless times until they become the normal.

the new normal will either dig us a fine rut that takes us to and fro carving out a routine that moves us along

keeping life dandy and smooth, just the way we had planned.

or...

we avoid the rut by keeping it fresh.

taking different routes to work and

saying hello to a stranger on the street and

hosting a playdate and

buying coffee for the person next in line.

so with each passing day,

the more attentive you can be, the more the city begins to gain a piece of you.

and as the city gains a piece of you, you leave a mark.

a mark of fulfillment and purpose.

for that stranger will have a better day.

and that kid from the playdate will experience love inside your home or at the park.

it's when that attentiveness becomes active that you begin to live out purpose in your community.

and that's what we want. to have purpose in our time

here.

for every mark we leave on others because Jesus invites us to,

we are all the blessed for it.

and our cities are all the better for it.