Good Neighbors

Last week I had two different individuals ask if they could help me with my wife.  Piper had taken a tumble in a chair on Christmas Eve at her folk’s house.  I spent Christmas morning on the phone conferring with the Advice Nurse provided by our health insurance and then the rest of the day gingerly attending to her needs.  The following day we went to the doctor and followed that up by an afternoon at the hospital getting X-Rays of her knee and hip.  Although everything looks okay, she was moving rather slowly with a distinct limp most of last week.

Even though she exhibited no discomfort, I still tended to handle her with the greatest of care whenever she needed assistance in getting into our car or even rising up from a seated position.  On New Year’s Day we went out to get a pizza.  When we returned to the car her limp caused me to position her slightly awkwardly when I helped her to the passenger seat.  As I considered the best way to swing her into the car, a gentleman who was getting into his car across from us spoke out asking if he could help me.

I thanked him profusely and explained that she was pretty light and I could handle it.  Then when I completed the task I thanked him again and chatted with him for a moment.  A couple of days later I was gently helping my wife out of her transport chair so that we could walk into our garage and into the car, when a neighbor who was standing in the parking area of our complex watching her kids play, said hello and asked if I needed any help.  Once again I thanked her as there was actually nothing she could do, but Iet her know that I really did appreciate her kind thought!

Both of these individuals blessed me tremendously, but, to be honest, actually took me by surprise!  I had originally noticed the gentleman as we stood at the checkout in the store we went to before walking down to pick up our pizza.  With his disheveled hair, old clothes and tattooed arms and legs, I thought that he might have been a homeless person!  He had sauntered into the store and walked right up to a display of small bottles of inexpensive wine!  In talking to him afterwards he quickly shot down my incorrect impression as we conversed next to his newer white mini-van!

I had said hello to our neighbor many times before.  Her cluster home is near our garage and we had passed her on multiple occasions as we went for walks or to our car.  She was always very cordial, but seemed rather shy and never said more than a couple of words in passing.  Like I said, her offer to help seemed out of character!

I thought of these incidents today as I read Jesus’ words about neighbors this morning.  In Luke 10:29 a man asked Jesus “who is my neighbor?”  Jesus replied by telling him the story of the man who was attacked, robbed and beaten on a lonely stretch of road.  The man that Jesus pointed to as the real neighbor was the one that no one would have expected.  He was from a group of people that were despised by the Jews.  Moved by compassion, this neighbor stepped out of his comfort zone and went to the aid of the one in need.  Probably not much different from the two people who went out of their way to help me last week!

Both of their inquiries touched my heart and got me to thinking about what kind of neighbor am I to those I pass each day in my life?  It is all too easy for me to get so caught up in what I do for my wife to stop and assist someone else in need.  I did make a point to stop in a store the other day to pick up a pen that an older lady next to us had dropped, and even though I bumped my head on my wife’s chair on the way up (smooth move huh!), it felt good to lend her a hand!

But what about the times I didn’t inquire if I could help another in need because I figured I had all that I could do just to take care of my wife?  Would Jesus use that as a good example of a good neighbor?  Probably not!  My clumsy attempt to assist the older lady in the store was probably a laughable but yet strong example of “Being the Gospel.”  The other times most likely did not do an admirable job of reflecting what Jesus would have done!

In Luke 3:21-22 the voice of our Father God is heard coming from the heavens at the time of Jesus’ baptism saying: “You are my Son, whom I love.  I am pleased with you.” (God’s Word ©)  I am positive that God looks upon each of us on a daily basis and says “You are my son or daughter, whom I love.”  I am not as positive that He always adds “I am pleased with you!”  What do you think?

In 2014 I am striving to hear that extra phrase added to my name on a more regular basis.  How about you?  Have a great week.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”