Julia Lambert Fogg - Finding Jesus at the Border: Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrant Neighbors

D ear reader, Im so glad you are here. Thank you for coming and listening with open ears. There are so many people who have made your reading possible. I cannot name them all here, but I am grateful to each one for their contributions.

First and foremost I want to thank Marja Mogk. She has read every paragraph of every chapter in this book through almost every iteration I have written over the past five years. And with every (patient) reading, she made the structure more solid, the prose cleaner, and my voice stronger. She has been more than a careful editor and friend; she has tended the very soul of this work. Thank you.

I also want to thank my writing partners from the NCFDD (National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity) boot camp, Maylei Blackwell, Michelle Habell-Palln, and now Tiffany Willoughby-Herard. Mujeres, has it been four years now? Five? Thank you for all of your advice, grounding, encouragement for self-care, and celebration of every wingreat and smalltoward the long goal. Se hace camino al andar .

Thank you, Messiah-Mesas Lutheran Church, for welcoming me, encouraging me, and teaching me through what were some of the more difficult times in the life of the congregation. You have been a blessing to me.

Thank you to my mentors with CLUE-VC, especially chairs Vanessa Frank, Betty Stapleford, and Nan Waltman. Thank you to Ched Myers for his early feedback and advice on chapters 1 and 2. And a special thank you to the Brazos team of editors, careful readers, and promoters. It is a pleasure to work with all of you.

Thank you to Tatiana, Diego, and Christine, owners and now friends at the cafs where I fueled and refueled, wrote, revised, and re-revisedwhere would I be without your hospitality, your conversations, and your coffee?

I also want to thank my parents. Mom and Dad, you paved the road for me to do this work by valuing learning, prioritizing education, and giving me opportunities to explore the world. You never said no when I told you about another border I wanted to cross. I know that was scary for you. Thank you for letting me go.

Chris and Sam, Emma, Ian and Jacob, you bring me life and hope. I cannot wait for the world you are shaping to come into full bloom. It is already a world of advocacy and justice that I am impatient to live in now.

Kenneth Paul, you are the music in my life and my partner in the dance. You are my heart, my joy, my home. Thank you for everything.