Needle Park

Across the street from our apartment is what was once known locally as "Needle Park." The nickname came not from the tall pines, but from frequent drug deals that left the park strewn with needles. 


The city decided to take the park back with an interesting approach. They cleaned it up and directed little league baseballers to start playing here. 


Now the tink of ball and bat can be heard down the street nearly every day of the week. Now families take their kids to the playground on cool summer evenings. Now young men play basketball on the court. Now the park feels completely safe.


Last night my husband went over to join the ballers and I sat in the grass watching. The park was packed. It's probably one of the most multiethnic scenes I've witnessed, too.


This was the park that first drew us to our part of town. Every time we walked or drove by we both felt like this was the place for us. We're praying about what our role should look like here. How do we love our neighbors? I'm looking forward to posting updates as we figure it out.

Best of Visalia (according to me)

Yodigity - By-the-ounce frozen yogurt so you get just exactly as much of everything as you want. So much better than the by-the-topping places that give you a mountain of yogurt and charge 75 cents for a measly spoonful of Oreo crumbs. Yodiggity's peanutbutter actually tastes like peanutbutter, too! I usually mix it with chocolate and add all the chocolate toppings I can find plus a couple fresh strawberries. YUM! It usually comes out under $2 and they have punch card reward system. Ours is almost full :D


Mountain Mike's Pineapple Chicken Luau - Oh my goodness. Pineapple. Chicken. BBQ sauce. BACON. Their pepperoni is super super crispy and delicious, too. (I would be in pizza euphoria if I could have that pepperoni on a Me-n-Ed's crust. But alas...)


Figaro's Fish or Shrimp Tacos - The smell alone drew us in one night. And I'm not a big seafood person. But this was delicious. We've also had their burritos because they looked so tasty, but we'll have to try them again without the overpowering salsa. And ask for the tortillas to be grilled. 


Cafe 210 - Love the atmosphere, the food, the drinks. They have a really good chicken sandwich with chipotle sauce. Can't remember what it's called. And then we think this icy treat is called the Monkey Mocha: chocolate, coffee and bananas in frapuccino form. Of course, being a huge chai fan, I judge most places by their chai lattes and this one has a vanilla version that is certainly up to par. Christian owned Cafe 210 also hosts a variety of events from a rehab group to pastors' meetings to live music.


Thursday Night Farmers' Market - Downtown and just a couple blocks long, but packed with all the usual goodies. Fresh fruit, baked goods, specialty foods, kettle corn, tacos, small fruit trees, crafts, you name it.


Most of these places are chains, but they're still pretty much local to the central valley. I'll keep looking for good local spots.

Salt

The following musings were inspired by and a little paraphrased from C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity."

Jesus is like salt. 

When you put salt on watermelon, it tastes sweeter. When you put salt on chicken, it tastes more savory. Salt brings out the flavor of whatever it's added to. (Unless you put a lot, A LOT of salt and then the thing just tastes salty. All parables have their limits, but I'll continue to muse on this one.)

Now let's take another seasoning like mint. Mint lends its overpowering flavor to anything in comes in contact with. Have you ever put peppermint patties in the same bag as, say, M&Ms? The M&Ms, though plain, come out tasting minty.

Some of my dear brothers and sisters think Jesus is like mint. You put him on and you smell just like every other Christian out there. Overly polite, Jesus t-shirt wearing, KLOVE listening, guitar playing Christians.

There are some things that all Christians should have in common, like the fruit of the Spirit and unity. Matching t-shirts are not one of them.

And I think this is why some of us struggle with transparency and true fellowship. We think, "Sunday morning, let's put on our Jesus masks."

But Jesus is like salt.

Or some of us, I've heard it said, try to be holier than Jesus. We taste a little too salty, like the whole shaker spilled onto your french fries. Let's not forget Jesus turned water into wine, threw over tables in the house of God, and ate with sinners and tax collectors.

Jesus is like just the right pinch of salt in a golden caramel sauce.

Jesus brings out the best in each of us.