18 Footsteps

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

18 footsteps. That's all it took. Laughter, friendship, support, salvation?
What more is only 18 footsteps away?

When I moved to South Morang 15 months ago I saw the potential for living in an amazing community. We were situated in a new housing development estate and the longest serving resident had only been there for eight years. Thousands of houses had been built and there were still a few hundred on the plans. While we were only renting our townhouse we were dreaming of planting a new congregation in the area, so our future plans were to be here long term.

By the end of the first week I realised that I had not just naturally bumped into any of our neighbours. We were sharing a wall with two neighbours and yet we had not met them face-to-face. I was determined to get to know people however it was not going to be as casual as I had first thought. So, I plucked up all my courage and went door knocking! Let me just state, this is not my usual behaviour. I am generally very friendly to people I meet but I don't like to push myself on anyone. However, I realised that I only had a very short period of time where I could use the 'I've just moved into the area' line. So I went with all the courage I could muster and a friendly smile plastered all over my face.

I met Donna first. She lived next door with her husband and three children. She was incredibly chatty but had only just moved in to the neighbourhood herself. They had sold their house that was closer to the city and had moved further out to find a bigger place. Open and chatty was a good start and so, with my renewed confidence, I moved on to the next house. Dee was only a little younger than me. She and her partner had bought the corner townhouse and were planning to marry at the end of the year. She invited me in and we chatted for quite a while. 'This could be the start of a beautiful friendship,' I thought as I waved her goodbye. The neighbours on our other side were not home so I thought I would retire for the day as two out of three aint bad! Now that I had just met my new future best friend and a lovely motherly neighbour, I was quite content. Little did I know that in the next 12 months I would only see my 'new future best friend' twice and that was as she drove past me in the car!

It took me another week to find our neighbours on the other side at home and introduce myself. Ben and Amanda were a couple, about the same age as my husband and I, and were planning on buying in the area sometime after their wedding which was scheduled at the end of the year. They had not met anyone else in the neighbourhood but were quite friendly.

Well, three neighbours in the first two weeks. That wasn't bad, however soon enough two weeks turned in to two months and I realised I had not had or made the opportunity to meet anyone else. Not just that, but I hadn't even had the opportunity to pump into the neighbours I had already met. This called for drastic measures. So we worked out a date when we were free and decided that we would invite Ben and Amanda over for tea. This was a big step and yet I knew that Cam could make conversation with a wooden post if he needed to and it wasn't far to run home for them if thing [...]

Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours...

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Linda Bailey is currently in the Philippines leading a short-term mission trip. For two weeks she will be sharing some of her favourite REAP posts. Here is the REAP she has chosen for today...

How do we treat those we live in close proximity to?

Zechariah 3.1-10

Reference: v. 10 "'In that day each of you will invite his neighbour to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the Lord Almighty." (NIV Bible)

Explore: The angel that is talking to Zechariah has just proclaimed that the Lord will remove all the sin from the land, and verse 10 is the response the people will have. When there is no sin then people will have positive relationships with each other.
I guess that will half the current affair shows on our TVs - ahhh, yet another good reason to erradicate sin!! On Today Tonight or A Current Affair there always seems to be a segment where they display the actions of nightmare neighbours. It's amazing how horrible people can be to each other when they live side-by-side (and it's also amazing how much dodgy shows on TV cash in on this repulsive behaviour... but that's a whole other passage!!)

Application: Having just moved into a new neighbourhood I have not yet experienced any nasty neighbour behaviour. However I have been reminded how difficult it is to get to know your neighbours. We live in a town house where we share side walls with our neighbours and yet we could go weeks without even exchanging a 'hello'.
If we are to begin to live our lives as God desires it, then we need to start making peace with our neighbours. This doesn't mean just ignoring them and leaving them in peace, but to bring them 'under your vine and fig tree' as Zechariah puts it. In other words, to share your life and resources with them. In this day and age it will mean going out of our way to give the invitation, but maybe that will make an even bigger impact.

Prayer: Lord, for some reason I can get so shy around people I don't know very well. Give me confidence to share Your love by opening up my home and my heart to those who live around me. Amen.

Blog Entries tagged 'neighbours'

18 Footsteps

Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours...