Neighbors

Just spent the last couple of hours sitting on my neighbors front porch, along with another set of neighbors. We enjoyed some cold pizza,cheetos,cold drinks and some fun conversation. Tim, one of my neighbors boyfriend (just met him tonight) invited me to start joining him and some of his buddies in sand volleyball on Thursday nights. Kristina, and I have been praying for God to open up doors for us to plug into some of our neighbors lives...seems like he is answering.

It is amazing the transformation that is taking place on our cul-de-sac. 2 months ago nobody hardly ever hung out, and now people are chatting in the driveways after work, loaning each other gardening tools, sitting on their front porches and chatting till late hours of the night. I hate to brag (yea right!!), but my wife is the instigator of this whole awakening. She has prayed and worked hard at developing relationships and getting connected to people in our neighborhood. What excites me even more, is that we've now expanded beyond our cul-de-sac and are starting to meet people who live around the corner. It is truly amazing.

Sowing the seeds of friendship and community takes a lot of extra work and time, but when you see the fruit of your labor it is worth it all. Maybe that book I often read that says "love your neighbor" really is worth paying attention to.