Over the past couple of months I have had the joy of exploring a city with my wife Natalie.  It is a city that I knew parts of growing up, however did not know it.  As a result I had many preconceived ideas of the city, that broke when we went exploring.

So where does one start with exploring a city, really where does one start with explaining the city that they have spent so many hours exploring and trying to understand and become a part of the city?

As we drove in for the first time we drove in through the main street in the downtown of the city.  As we drove we noticed the shops on both sides of the road, little shops, except for a couple of stores, were independently owned.  This gave the downtown of the city a quaint little feel to it.  Let’s be honest it also gave it a “cool” feel as independent shops are all the rage.  On both sides of the street there were a lot of people walking throughout the downtown area, some walking slowly while drinking their coffee from one of local coffee shops, some were in a hurry like they had somewhere they wanted to get.  During the process of driving we realized that we were hungry.  So we drove until we found a little restaurant that served burgers and fries, wow, what great food that was.

From there we drove into the residential area of the city, a part of the city that people call central city.  As we drove we noticed the houses and the people, the area that we were soon enough going to call home.  As we observed we learned more and more about the people and the place that we were going to become a part of.  It was joyful and daunting all at the same time.

Once Natalie and I finished exploring, we went to that little coffee shop and discussed the possibility and the reality that we were moving to this city.

Since then Natalie and I have found our favorite little areas.  We have our favorite restaurant, well, of the 3 that we have been to and those who know us, know that once we love a place it is hard to get us to go somewhere else.  Natalie has her favorite coffee shop, which sadly to say is JP’s Coffee, mine on the other hand is a much more indie and let’s be honest way “cooler” than hers.  My favorite is Lemonjello’s, the place where the hip kids look at me strange and say “what is that old non hip man doing in our hip hangout.”  I am pretty sure that once we move there and I frequent Lemonjello’s more often the hipness will be lost, so sorry to all of you hip folks that will need to find a new spot to hang out.

As we spend more time in the city, the smaller the city becomes, and the more like home it is to Natalie and I.  While it still seems foreign in many ways to us, we are beginning to learn about it and become a part of it.  For if we are going to incarnate and minster to a city we need to spend time there and learn to love things about it.

So, our journey of exploring the city of Holland is far from over, it has begun and it has been an amazing journey so far and we look forward to showing people around and telling them about “our” city.