We live in a hidden gem, a small circle of houses tucked away, inside city limits, but unnoticed by most. Our little circle sometimes feels as if it lives in the past, with children and dogs playing outside until dusk calls them in. It’s the kind of neighborhood where we can walk next door and borrow a cup of sugar. A neighborhood where we spend most of our outside time in our front yards and little in our back yards.
And, within this neighborhood, we live surrounded by our past, present, and future.
When we look out our window, we have the most beautiful view of our life as it once was. Across the street, our tiny human friends are discovering the world through preschool play and elementary school. Children who were not yet born when their parents first move in remind us of the stages of parenting we have so quickly left behind.
These days we don’t often see our next-door neighbors outside, but when we do, their faces reveal the blend of exhaustion from sleepless nights and the pure joy of welcoming a new baby into their home. And again, we are reminded of that particular season we once lived but so quickly left behind.
As we sit in the early stages of parenting teens, we find ourselves forever grateful for our other next-door neighbors. The couple adjusting to parenting adult children and being called grandparents. Because in them, we see what might be in store for our future selves.
Our little circle holds families at all stages of life, the elderly widow who provides the opportunity for us to teach our boys how to show kindness by shoveling her driveway in winter. The not yet old but recently empty-nesters, the parents dropping off their firstborn at college this year. We all come from different places and are living in different seasons of our lives.
For some of us, the only thing we have in common is the street where we live.
These past seventeen months have made us all the more aware of the gift of our hidden gem. When isolated from the world, we still got to live in community; we were never completely alone. (But, always safely socially distanced, of course)
Not everyone is blessed to live in a hidden gem like we are, but can we tell you something?
This circle did not become what it is by accident. The neighbors before us took the first steps, and the rest of us followed behind. This circle became a community because someone was willing to open their hearts and homes, inviting others into their ordinary everyday lives. It just took one person, one family stepping outside their front door and saying, you are welcome here.
Maybe you find yourself in a place that lacks community. It doesn’t have to remain that way. It only takes one person, one family, to decide they want something different, something more.
It only takes one person,
@joy.marker
one family,
willing to open their heart and their home.
If pandemic life has taught us anything, it is that we do not do well isolated and alone. We need healthy, engaged communities. But those communities don’t just appear; we might have to be brave enough to take the first step to make that happen.
And, friends, it is so worth being brave. Because, we have found that by being neighborly,
we have made real friends. They live just across the street and next door.
If you desire to open your heart and home but aren’t sure where to start, my friend Twyla has a great devotional to help you. Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors
2 thoughts on “Neighbors now, Friends.”
Great post. I love that you pointed out that this community didn’t happen by accident. It takes brave intentionality. Twyla’s book is great too!
Thank you, and yes, Twyla’s book is great.
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