Learning to Live with Neighbors

I can't believe it's been 6 months since we have purchased and moved into our home, and it's been a great experience so far.

One thing I'm learning about is how to live with neighbors. So far, it's very different from what I experienced growing up in my small bayou town. Growing up, my family knew our neighbors very well. It was nothing for my mom to send me to a neighbor's house to ask for an egg, since she was in the middle of cooking and ran out. Trick-or-treating was special since we would receive a special bag prepackaged with our names on it, and we also knew two houses down there would be hot dogs and popcorn balls year after year. We visited one another. If you were outside doing yard work, there was a good chance a neighbor would come by. My mom bought our birthday cakes from a lady a few houses down. My dad knew who he could borrow tools from. In fact, my dad helped an older gentleman grow a garden two houses down. They enjoyed spending time together and sharing the crop. There was a real sense of community and support in the neighborhood.

What have I experienced so far living in my new neighborhood? Well, definitely not the above. In the front of our house is a pecan tree. To my little knowledge, I didn't realize how much a pecan tree looses it's leaves in the winter - enough to fill up 1 1/2 large trash cans with JUST leaves in case you were wondering (and this was just the first raking). One particular morning, I decided it was definitely time to rake since no trace of grass could be seen. While raking, I stumbled upon some unwanted surprises that I know suspect came from two small black dogs from our neighbor's house. Immediately inside I felt emotions of rage and revenge. Why can't they pick up after their dog? That's so rude! Are they lazy? Why can't they train their dog to stay on THEIR property. I just want to get a dog (which we don't have) and train it to go in their yard. Ha! That will show them. After about 30 min of ranting in my head while raking, I calmed down and thought is that showing love? Is that how I can get to know my neighbors and form a sense of community? Definitely not. Then I began to look around at my surroundings and felt horrible to see many yards that had OUR leaves in them. Yikes! Some of my neighbor's don't even have a tree in their yard. Now, I know I can't totally prevent the wind from blowing the leaves around, but I could rake up my yard more often, than...twice? I'm sure if I rake more often, then it wouldn't give the wind a chance to blow the leaves in my neighbor's yards. Will this one act make my neighbors become friends with me? I definitely don't think so, but I'm sure they would appreciate it.

Currently, I only know one set of neighbors thus far. This particular set was very close to the family that lived in our house before us, and they introduced themselves to us quickly because they were collecting the mail for the family that moved. They seem like really nice people, and I look forward in getting to know them better. Sadly, I don't know the other people that live in the houses that surround me.

One of my New Year's resolutions this year will be to change that. I want to feel the sense of community and support that I had growing up. I know it will not happen over night, and it will take time. I don't think this is an easy task. I can think of many excuses as why not to - Will they like us? There is too big of an age difference. What should I talk about? etc. My prayer for 2012 is that God would give me opportunities to get to know my neighbors, and that I am brave and bold enough to seize those opportunities.

I'm learning to live with neighbors, how about you?
-Miche