I live in a metropolis with at least 99 churches and 30 Christian nonprofits, per a quick search online. Longview, Washington has been where I have lived for most of my life. We are large enough to be interesting, but small enough that you don’t sit in traffic to get anywhere. Yet I don’t talk politics outside of my house too often, I fear for my queer friends that were born male, and being a woman has never been my strong suit. Did I mention that apart from paint colors, we don’t like change much around here.
When I did an AI search I got this quick answer about our demographics:
In 2020, Longview, Washington had a population of 37,818, with a majority being White (76.0%). The city has an older population than the state and a growing population of those with Hispanic/Latino origin, which made up 11.8% in 2020. In 2023, the median age was 39.1, and the cost of living was lower than the national and state averages.
So I wasn’t too surprised that our community would have a candle light vigil for Charlie Kirk, once I had done a search for him and watched some of his videos. He is the kind of conservative that the conservatives that live here, would be drawn to. Even though we are mostly a blue county and state, there are many conservatives here too and the ones that tend to be in Longview are truly red.
What did surprise me is that my people, who don’t like to part with their money very often, wanted to rename a street. Did you know it can cost $50,000 to change the name of a street? I support our tax dollars going to real needs, not frivolous spending.
After a few days of learning who Kirk was and what he stood for, if you weren’t just like him, I was not for his message. My message to people that wanted to have our tax dollars go to a ridiculous idea of changing a perfectly good street name. One that had served us just fine, for years was: If you want a memorial for Charlie Kirk, please start a GoFundMe and get something put together by people that want to pay for it.
I have been disgusted by the way I have heard people complain about the homeless people around here. This community refuses to be realistic about the need for a low barrier shelter and it is hateful and unable to be patient towards people with real needs and even organizations that try to meet them. Yet they want to put up a memorial to a man that never even came to Longview. I don’t get it.
Our community has no medical specialists, yet we have a hospital, so if you are chronically ill, you are forced to drive to Vancouver or Portland. If you are disabled, do you think that is easy to afford? Yet we don’t cater to doctors who might be interested in staying here, so they won’t. If you read the demographics above, this especially doesn’t make any sense. We are getting older people!
There are many real needs in this community. Changing a damn street name is not and should not be a priority. We need real change.
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My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Jesus Follower, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Jesus Follower…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
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