We one day opened our eyes, took our first breath, and cried right where we were. You could have been born anywhere. 4.2 babies are born every second in the world. You are right where you are meant to be.

For most people where we take our first breath is nothing more than a postcard lottery, somewhere you just happened to end up on earth. And just assume that where you ended up dictates your whole trajectory.

In Paved Paradise the author explains how many different places are built can drastically change human behavior. The way that we create, build, and design things helps people develop character, connect, and build community.

In “U is for urbanism” Jane Jacobs tells us about how we build environments mold how we treat each other. When the creators of sesame street created the show they didn’t make up some made up fairytale place for the set., they used a normal urban street with many different types of characters to teach people the good side of the city. What the city could look like. How it could be happy and healthy through many different encounters with many different people. “A good neighborhood makes you feel like you’re a part of something.”  You do not need to look like someone, talk like someone or think like someone to share love with them. We all need an environment that we feel we belong in.

For me in my personal life I look beyond the urban planners design, I know God designs specific people for specific places to fulfill their specific purposes. “From one man he made all the nations, the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”-Acts 17:26  Therefore this “Geographical luck” thing is completely bogus and everyone is in their own neighborhood, their town for a reason. A neighborhood with short sidewalks and high density like Henry Grabar was begging and what the makers of sesame street encouraged and created makes it so easy to connect with our neighbors, show grace, build relationships and show Jesus’ love.

When we look at our homes through the lenses we were meant to it becomes easy to see that our location is not geographical luck or a random lottery of zipcode, now I’m not saying you can’t change because that can 100% happen maybe moving is a part of your story, but all of our stories started somewhere and that was not a mistake. Every neighbor you encounter, build a relationship with, and share God’s love to is another piece to a bigger puzzle which is God’s purpose for you. Placing each and everyone of us right where we are meant to be.