Love Thy Neighbor

We are incredibly blessed and so are our children. Our basic needs are met, and we are surrounded by so many luxuries. However, the majority of the world is not so fortunate. I experienced this first hand in the garbage dump of La Chureca in Nicaragua this summer. Since I returned in early August, Beth Ann and I have been faced with the challenge of responding to our call as Christians to love our neighbors and care for those less fortunate and (maybe more importantly) figuring out how to teach such big ideas to Brian and Brett, who are just three and five years old.


We don't have to go to Nicaragua to see those who are less fortunate or those who are hungry. Many people believe that that the problems of hunger are confined to small pockets of society. However, the reality is much different. Right now, hundreds of people in our own neighborhoods are struggling with hunger. Our wonderful church, North Way Christian Community, operates a Food Pantry to help these neighbors - those who may have recently lost a job, may be disabled and unable to work, or who just can't make ends meet . In an effort to begin teaching our children how blessed they are and the importance of serving others, Beth Ann decided to ask our church if Brian and Brett could get involved at the Food Pantry in some way. Our church graciously said, "Yes!" and said they could collect food and grocery products on a monthly basis and stock the shelves of the pantry. With much hesitation, Beth Ann made little fliers (asking our neighbors to partner with us by placing donations on their porches on the last Monday of the month), and the boys placed the fliers in their mailboxes.


Monday evening, we made our first collection and WOW! - we were so blessed by the generosity of our neighbors!!! The boys were so excited to run from porch to porch and collect the bags of food and grocery items that our neighbors had left. We laughed as they tripped over big bags filled with cereal boxes and soup cans trying to load the bags into their Little Tikes wagon. In a time when neighbors are often people we rarely see because of garage door openers and busy lives, we experienced the love and generosity of our neighbors directly last night.


We were encouraged and blessed by our neighbors' generosity. We are optimistic that God is going to begin to teach Brian and Brett an incredible lesson through this experience. I am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity to watch Him use Beth Ann to shape our children into strong Christian men!