today is the day to get to know... (an action post.)

today is the day to get to know…your neighbor

When Kent and his family moved into the new home, they fell in love with their neighbors.  That is, all except one.  About five houses down, an older man lived alone.  Rumor had it that his wife had died about fifteen years earlier and people just hadn’t seen him much since then.  When he had to venture out, it was always late at night and he boarded his big old boat of a car from the garage, so no one really ever even saw his face. 

Kent wouldn’t allow his kids to play in front of “Crazy Ray’s” house because quite honestly, he was just kind of scary.  Everyone knows the house – it’s the one that movies are made of with the overgrown grass, the shutters falling off and the newspapers gathered on the front porch. 

That guy seemed flat out weird.

Kent’s wife Betsy was eight months pregnant and feeling great.  So great that she told Kent she was going out for a walk alone.  Even though her girls begged to go along, she told them no and swiftly walked out the door.  About forty minutes later, Kent was getting antsy that Betsy wasn’t home.  He even tried to call her cell phone and realized that wasn’t going to get him anywhere when he heard it ringing in the other room.  And then he heard sirens.  When he looked outside, he saw that they were right out front and he ran outside to see Betsy being loaded into the ambulance. 

“Don’t worry, Honey,” she said calmly, “I just took a nasty fall.” 

Two days later, Betsy came home still pregnant with a healthy baby and a broken ankle.  She had tripped over her own two feet and fallen right outside of Ray’s house.  If it hadn’t been for him, who knows how long she would have been laying there.  He was quick to dial 911 and made his way out to the sidewalk to stay with her until the ambulance arrived.  He would have run to get Kent, but he doesn’t walk so well and it was all he could do to get to Betsy.  To hear Betsy tell the story, one would think that Ray was an angel.  “I was a bit out of sorts thanks to the fall, but I could see someone coming toward me.  He was slow and walked with a cane, but I could tell he was coming to help me.  When Mr. Chambers, Ray, made it to me, he sat himself down on the sidewalk, joking the whole time about the fact that he would never be able to get up and thank goodness help was on the way.  He patted my hand the whole time and kept me company until the ambulance got there.”

With some encouragement from Betsy, Kent knew what he had to do. 

He made his way to Crazy Ray’s house and rang the doorbell.  When the door opened, Kent extended his hand and thanked Mr. Chambers.  It seems that Mr. Chambers went into a deep depression when his wife died and shortly after, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  His son had been helping to take care of him for the last few years and since his son worked second shift, the only time they could get out to get groceries and fill prescriptions was late at night, so Mr. Chambers never really had the chance to meet any of the new neighbors. 

Kent made a promise that from that day on, he would help Mr. Chambers as needed.  He started mowing his yard, offering to help with groceries and even spearheaded a neighborhood project to build a ramp so that he could get in and out easier.  Now when you drive down the street, you wouldn’t think twice about Mr. Chambers except how kind he seems as he sits on his front porch, talking with the neighbors and waving hello as you drive by.

~ today is the day...for you ~

Today is the day for you to reach out to someone who lives close by.  Whether you live in a housing addition or in the middle of the country, someone lives next door.  I grew up in a neighborhood where the only way I got called to dinner was by my mom yelling out the back door and then the mom five houses down hollering up at the park where all of us kids were busy swinging and playing freeze tag.  It was a neighborhood where anybody’s parents had the right to yell at you when you did something wrong, doors were always open and when a wedding or funeral took place everyone went to celebrate and be together. 

We were an extended family and I loved every minute of it. 

Today is the day for you to extend your hand to your neighbor and to build on your community right next door no matter how many steps away it is. 

~ to help you get started ~

Volunteer for your neighborhood association

Offer a split from your plants to a neighbor

Share vegetables from your garden

Drop a note in a neighbor's mail box

Stop and say hello when walking by

Offer to lend something to a neighbor

Help someone when they seem in need or tired

~ we'd love to hear how it went ~

What did you do to reach out to a neighbor?  

How did you choose this particular household?

How did they respond?

What impression does this experience leave with you?

What can you do to continue to build your relationship with your neighbors?

I hope that you'll become a part of this experience & follow www.todayisthedayforyou.blogspot.com 

as we take our best of intentions & put them into motion to

see what big difference our little actions can make together! 

Monday starts a new week & I promise a new action post for you. 

Until then, have fun getting to know your neighbor & know that

your smallest of actions can change someone's life, including your own.  

Don't wait too long.  After all...today is the day!