My wife and I live among the world’s largest Amish settlement (Holmes County, Ohio). We have neighbors who remind us of our growing up days in the 1930s. We may return home to find a note on the kitchen table that reads, “Hi, I needed two packets of Gelatin. Will pay you back later.” It will be signed by one of our neighbor ladies. We, in turn, have gone to our neighbors to borrow things we needed “in a pinch.”
Neighbors Are Always There
We had a chimney fire once and before the fire trucks left, our home was filled with neighbor ladies and young girls. In just two hours they cleaned our house from top to bottom, walls, ceiling, and floors. Later three neighbor men came and rebuilt the chimney for us. I know that very few of our readers have the privilege of living in the kind of community we live in. Many of you may not know the names of your next-door neighbors. It is almost impossible to reach out to those you don’t know and don’t talk to.
If You Want a Neighbor, Be One!
I was raised with a grandmother in our home. Two of her many sayings were, “If you want a neighbor, you had better be one,” and “There’s always room for one more.” I believe if she had been the innkeeper at Bethlehem, she would had said, “Come on in, there’s always room for one more!” Or maybe she would have said, “Wait a little while and we will build you a bedroom!” Maybe Grandma and the Shunammite woman were distant cousins!
Very little money changes hands between our neighbors and us. Neither do we “keep a list.” We just keep helping each other and the Lord provides. The Shunammite woman was that kind of a neighbor. What kind of a neighbor are you? |L
Daniel Gault (recently deceased) of Brinkhaven, Ohio, served churches in central Ohio for many decades. Dan was a noted preacher, painter, author, carpenter, and story teller.
