Let me make a few confessions.
CONFESSION 1:
Living in a close-nit neighborhood can be a beautiful blessing, and it can also be a little bit of a curse. From running out of parking places (we live on a parallel parking street), to different work schedules, to LOTS of kids and some families with NO kids. It can be tricky.
CONFESSION 2:
I feel most valuable when I am spending time helping or serving others. Sometimes I get burned out or feel taken advantage of (which is so the opposite of a serving heart), and I shut down and stop spending time loving on those around me.
CONFESSION 3:
For the last 2 years I have been on shutdown mode. I stopped serving in the areas of my church where I served, I stopped doing Flower a Friend (something I LOVED), and I stopped working hard to love on others.
I was in complete shutdown mode. My cup ran out and so did my desire to love and serve.
Over the last few weeks I have begun to see these little fires of desire to serve spark again. I can see it in my home, I can see it in my business, and I can see it in my friendships. Though small, I can feel the hope and excitement from just their little bursts of light. Over time, when you start focusing your arrow inward your circle gets smaller. You stop building into others and what once was a blooming, vibrant, relational life, becomes quiet, isolated, and hard. As I look back and see where my inward arrows were in full swing, I can see how my purpose was void.
So today as I was blowing the leaves from our giant tree out of our neighbors way, bagging them up, and feeling excited to do something for my neighbors, I caught a glimmer of that little spark. The one that had been missing for the last two years. I had tried to fake it in the past, but not this spark. This one was real.
And it was then I had this idea….
The Love Your Neighbor Project
What would happen if for the next 8 weeks leading up until Christmas I did something small for my neighbors? The ones I get along with AND the ones I don’t. How would our relationships change if our family worked a little bit over a period of time to let our neighbors know we value them?
So that is it. I challenge you to join me. It will add value to our neighborhoods. What if several of us do it? Would it not only make our hearts feel purpose but our neighbors’ hearts as well? Would it begin to build friendship and unity to those we do life with daily?
Maybe you don’t know your neighbors, maybe you don’t like your neighbors. Maybe your neighbor is a single mom or dad, and elderly couple, or a college student. What would happen if for 8 weeks you spent time serving the people you live with?
Let’s find out! Operation #loveyourneightborproject has officially begun! Will you join us?
