Our neighbor's tree went right through the center of our playset!
Hi! I know that it has been a long time since I have posted, and thank you to those who were concerned about me! Literally, life happened, and September was a VERY busy month with the startup of two MOPS groups (www.timberlakebaptist.org/mops), a big concert for the missions organization we are a part of (www.allowthechildren.org), the start of school and activities and a HUGE yard sale … I will put that into a future post, though.
Last night, we were able to go over to a friend’s house for dinner (so fun! 
), and I happened to check messages on the way home … our neighbor prepared us for the sight we were to see when we got home (it made me SO thankful that I checked the messages! ). Needless to say, we were a bit shocked because it was not a natural occurance. Someone (not our neighbor) was taking the tree down and obviously did not correctly plan for its placement upon falling (he was not even a tree expert, but just a man who needed some wood who took the trees down for free).
My first reaction was “oh no”! My son could not wait to see it because he thought it was SO cool (typical 7 year old boy stuff), and my 5 year old daughter was concerned because she was not sure if she could play on it anymore (answer … no! 
).
Anyway, I know that dealing with neighbors is tricky, but I am more concerned about our Christian testimony than anything else … seriously. Our playset can be fixed/replaced, and my children can find something else to do; yet, the relationship that we are trying to build with our neighbors can either be permanently damaged or continue to flow along smoothly.
Here are some verses that come to my mind immediately …
Matthew 22:37-39 – “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second it like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That is what I am here for anyway, right? I am here to honor and glorify the Lord, and I am to be an example of what he would do. I can exhibit that my loving my “neighbor” as myself is a Christlike thing to do. Also, my “neighbor” in this instance is truly a neighbor, but Jesus was not just talking about your physical next-door neighbors .
Luke 6:31 – “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” Huh? It’s the “golden rule” … to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Would I like my neighbors to rant and rave and get angry? Of course not! Would I like them to deal graciously and have them be understanding and kind? Yes!
In all of this, we will work things out with the neighbors and hopefully get the repairs done or a new playset ordered in time for our kids to have fun, but I just wanted to remind myself that our attitude in a situation is sometimes more important in the situation itself. Take care!
