Welcome to the Monday Morning Rewind on Tuesday morning! Sherry and I could use some prayers. I spent the rest of Sunday in bed even missing our small group Super Bowl party. Sounds like I didn’t miss much! Monday was pretty much the same. Now I think Sherry has whatever I have after caring for me.
In Sunday’s teaching I shared some thoughts by author Jim Ramos on being a witness in your neighborhood, how that is the most likely place to start. He said your witness is made or dismayed in your front yard. On Friday and Saturday I had a few things pop up on my news feeds or social media about people observing our lives. Here is one:
A man and his family – wife and three children – were having breakfast at a café. The man had been playing a dot game with his kids while they waited for breakfast. When he asked for the check, the waitress gave him the receipt for a meal already paid for – $85. On the back was a handwritten note that said “Thank you for being the dad they need you to be regardless of who’s watching
People are watching even if you don’t notice it.
Here is another:
A man was driving through his neighborhood when he noticed a cedar privacy fence down. He decided to stop and ask about it. The home was owned by a single mom with one son. The mom’s mom answered the door and shared the story. The young mom had lost her husband 3 years ago. A couple of months ago she had been in a serious car wreck totaling her car and suffering some injuries. The older mom said her daughter had been trying to get it fixed but all the estimates came in at $6000 or more. The man was back at the house the next day rebuilding her fence at his expense, a cost of about $2000. The man said “he has always been passionate about making a difference in his community.”
He also said little acts of kindness start a ripple effect.
You don’t have to spend $85 or $2000 but what little thing can you do in your neighborhood to start a ripple effect? As you learn about your neighbors, think about one little thing that might mean a lot to them. Can you bake? Bake them their favorite cookie, take it over and tell them you were thinking about them and is there anything you can pray about for them? Can you mow? Or it might be something as simple as picking up some fallen tree limbs in somebody’s yard or taking their grass clippings or leaves to the yard waste sight. Can you write? Send them a handwritten note letting them know that you noticed them doing something good for someone else. They may not have done it expecting any recognition but they will still enjoy your kind words. It will require you be intentional…don’t you hate it when I use that word!
How is your life living out in your front yard?
Rick Neubauer
But you man of God, flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. I Timothy 6:11
