Meeting Neighbors

I have been pretty woeful at getting to know my neighbors for the past few years. This is something I've often talked about, but never really done anything significant to change it -- truthfully it has seemed somewhat intimidating and overwhelming (how do you know a whole neighborhood?).

Yesterday, I was wandering around the inside and outside of the house looking for my family. I couldn't find them anywhere and wondered if they had gone out for a walk together. I decided to take a walk and try to find them. As I ambled down the street I thought about how wonderful it was just to have time to slowly walk. Aloud I just thanked God for this season of rest and wondered if this is what Christ felt like as he moved from place to place walking. I also prayed that the Lord would draw the hearts of these people to Himself.

Very exciting to me was when I happened to encounter two of the local neighbors and had short chats with them. This wasn't anything earth-shattering, but as I headed back to the house, I realized that this neighborhood walking is what put me in the place where I could meet people. Furthermore, I can do this same thing at home. Just walking around my neighborhood and praying. This is a habit I hope to form while here in Memphis.

By the way, I finally found the family -- they were in the playhouse in the back yard doing schoolwork!