Emily and I spent the weekend with my Aunt Hannah, Uncle Jonathan, and cousins Bekah, Caleb, Titus, and Lydia at Mission Arlington. The Taussigs moved to Arlington, TX from Kansas City about 3 years ago in order to live in a low-income housing project and plant a church there. I have looked up to the family for years and found in Jonathan a kindred spirit early in my walk with God. He has always been someone who wants to radically live out the love of the Lord by ministering to the people who often fall through the cracks, and I admire his passion and sense of humor.
Hannah and the kids were able to come to the wedding where my cousins systematically gorged on candy and told me that I looked like I was wearing a diaper in my Save The Date photo, so Emily was able to meet them then. But this was her first time meeting Jonathan. As she saw him flagging us into a parking space, her first comment was, "He looks like Jesus." It's true. He has a beard of flannel-graph proportions, and any kid raised in Sunday School would immediately identify him as sharing a striking similarity to white Jesus.
The apartment complex that the Taussig's live in is in a rough area, but they have been able to establish a ministry involving a church in the clubhouse on Sundays, various Bible studies with the youth, a medical clinic, and partnering with Mission Arlington headquarters in order to meet the needs of many of the families in the complex. There were continual knocks on their apartment door over the weekend, often kids looking to say hi or ask if they had any sunscreen.
My cousins Caleb and Titus immediately took me into their room to show me their collection of turtles. It was impressive and their tanks were a little bit cleaner than the cage of Lydia's hamster, Princess. Princess seemed to have been soiling every inch of her castle for quite some time. At least that's what it smelled like.
After my turtle introduction, Caleb and Titus showed me their growing library of stop-animation films. Using their webcam and a still photograph program, they would make stop-motion videos of legos and other objects laying around the house. They even made one video in which a series of die took on the life of a snake. It was great! My two favorites were a Lego rendition of our wedding (complete with family photographs) and a Lego breakdancer. The Lego breakdancer film was accompanied by Haddaway's "What is Love? (Baby Don't Hurt Me)" and featured all the essential moves: snake, side-spin, and moonwalk. Spielberg watch out!
Emily and I spent the night in one of the old intern's apartments. Apparently the door had been set on fire one time by a group of kids who were upset that the intern wanted some alone time. Reminded me of some of my students.
The next day we helped them pack up over 250 packs of brand new school supplies and backpacks at the mission headquarters. We unloaded them at the apartment clubhouse where about 7 or 8 kids showed up to help us unload and sort them before they could be distributed to families in the apartments. It was fun to work with the kids. Emily was working with an African American toddler (probably 3 or 4 years old) with long cornrow braids and kept giving "her" directions until the rest of the kids filled Em in that "she" was a boy named AJ. The braids threw her off.
It was fun, encouraging, and challenging to spend the weekend with the Taussigs. The love, passion, and humility that permeate the family spreads to everything they're doing, and Emily and I saw many things modeled that we aspire to in our lives and calling. We already miss them and want to visit again as soon as possible!
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