Neighborly love...

Have you ever gone out of your way to do something nice for someone for no reason at all? I did just that today and got quite the reaction! I made 12 loaves of zucchini bread and decided to give half of it away! My original intention was to freeze all of it for our family to have year round, but when I started to look out the windows at the houses around me, I changed my mind.

We live in a very diverse neighborhood and have a variety of different lifestyles and personalities surrounding us! And because we live in a downtown area our houses all border each other pretty closely!

Bordering our house plot we have a gay couple, a elderly widow, a set of retired grandparents, a toddler with teenage parents, a single mom with 2 kids, and another elderly couple. We have gotten to know some of them quite well and others are on a first name basis only. It is our desire as a family to get to know our neighbors better and to reach out to them.

So, this afternoon, after my bread was done baking I packed the kids up in the wagon (and Tom pushed Jack in a stroller) and we delivered our zucchini bread to our various neighbors. It's amazing how people react when you give them something without expecting something in return. Many said thank you many times over and some looked surprised! Isn't it sad that we don't do things like this more often. What an opportunity to reach out to someone who might be lonely or needy by baking a simple loaf of bread.

It was also nice that we brought our kids along for the ride/walk. It gave our kids the chance to see what being a kind and Godly neighbor meant! They introduced themselves, talked for a few minutes and we were able to visit in a way that our kids got to know our neighbors as well.

(If you are moving to a new home, still new to an area, or just don't know your neighbors very well... try this idea...) When we moved into our last home I organized a backyard dessert party at our home. We were new to the neighborhood and wanted to meet the families on the street. So, I went to the dollar store and bought some cute plastic plates (it could be any kind of container) and delivered them empty to each house in the neighborhood. I put a simple invitation on each plate inviting them to a "backyard dessert party." The invite asked them to bring this empty plate back to the party filled with a yummy snack of their choice.

By delivering the plates first we had an initial contact with each family and made small talk for a few minutes. Then, when they returned to our party the following week, we had a face to put with a name. It was a huge success. Some people had been living on the street for years and didn't know everyone around them! I would say we had about 1/2 of the homes represented and we had a great time chatting around a campfire with our "plates of goodies!"

I was hoping we would have the same result today when we delivered the bread to our neighbors and I think we accomplished that. If nothing else, we want them to know that our family cares about them and that we're here if they need us.

We wanted to nourish their bodies with food, but more importantly we wanted to nourish their souls with a smile!