living out loud: mark 12:31

getting to know neighbours in this city, as it is in any largely populated area, is challenging. seems funny really; or perhaps it the country girl coming out in me. if you grew up on a farm or had the opportunity to visit a rural community, you quickly know everyone within miles; the names of not only the neighbours, but what they drive, their pets names, when their birthdays or anniversary are. always waving to one-another while meeting them on the road, or never being afraid to call and ask if they have seen your horses or cows {when they happen to get out} or walk to the nearest house to get a tractor to pull your vehicle out of the ditch :)

here in the city it is a little different mentality when it comes to getting to know the neighbour. getting our own house has made me realize how i took for-granted how easy it was to get to know neighbours in a country setting compared to here in the city. seems that there is not a lot of Mr. Wilson moments {from the tv show home improvement}, or not too many waves are returned {more confused looks than returning a simple wave}. so i was forced to keep up what i had been taught: treat your neighbour as you would want to be treated. when dividing plants, offer to those who seem interested or in the fall when our garden surprises us with more veggies than we can handle, to offer them to our neighbours here in the city {who appreciate more than words can say} or when it snows {as it has this winter especially!}, to shovel our neighbours walk ways and back ally. (to name a few things)

by 'loving your neighbour as yourself' the rewards are amazing. i have gained many good friends and love the feeling that i know my little community that immediately surround our home. which is rare in a city, as odd as that sounds... i really do enjoy having a conversation with a neighbour when walking farley, or having a community of eyes watching our property when we are gone or at home, who feel comfortable enough to drop in a say if they seen something that seemed out of the ordinary.

this morning, a neighbour felt so very happy to have us as a neighbour, we were presented with a gift of appreciation. i accepted the gift, saying that we really did not do the things we do to be rewarded, we simply do it out of love for our neighbourhood. our neighbour continue to say something that made me fuzzy on the inside, how greatly appreciated are all the things that we have done and continue to do, but how the things we do in our little community are appreciated.