Who is Your Neighbor?

As my husband and I were busy in the yard this week, Greg stopped to speak to a guy who was working with the local cable company on our street.  In that conversation I was expecting to hear “It’s a Small World” playing from the passing traffic.

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It turns out the guy and Greg had several overlapping similarities.  The exciting part was how he came to Christ.  It started with, “I had this neighbor…”  The neighbor for years, invited him to their home, to their church, to special events.  The neighbor took him, books, and CD’s and DVD’s all pertaining to Christ. He finally trusted Christ with his neighbors persistance.

Great Story, but how does this relate to ParakaleoMoms?

As a child, I was like that man.  I had a neighbor who invited me often.  To her church.  To her home. To her Christian schools activities.  And one night, as a young child, I spent the night with my neighbor, Michelle.

Michelle asked me if I knew I would go to heaven when I died.  In her “younger than me understanding,” she shared the gospel and I accepted Christ as my Savior.  That “spend the night,” changed my life. It changed my eternity.

Again, so how does that story relate to ParakaleoMoms?

As moms, we are constantly evaluating who we should allow our children to play with, run with, spend time with.  This is a hard question to answer.  We don’t want their influence and lack of values and morals to corrupt our babies.

We use logic or “spiritual” processors to say, “they are too young to be exposed to the ‘Ways of the world.’”

My brothers and I were probably considered the menace of the neighborhood too!  Yet, the Wright family had room in their lives for us.  They didn’t see four naughty wide opened kids running through the neighborhood.  They saw us as their mission field in their backyard.

They invited us to play in their yard when it was pretty, or in their above ground pool when it was hot.  They invited us in to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and to make the worlds best yellow cake and chocolate icing on rainy days.  They even called in my youngest brother (who would quietly wait on their front porch while they had dinner) to eat their leftovers.

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The Wrights invited us to church and to Awanas.  They told us about Jesus.

This family was the instrument that God used to bring our entire family to Christ.


Jesus tells us in Luke 10: 25 - 37 to follow the example of a good neighbor by showing mercy.  In short He said, "Go and do likewise."

So who is your neighbor?  Is there room in your yard, your pool, or your kitchen for another family? Should you invite them to your church? Should you tell them about Christ?

Ask God to show you which neighbor you should reach out to.

I am eternally grateful my childhood neighbors who had room for one more ragamuffin!

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                       - by Joannie