We have an apartment on our property. Since June, it's been inhabited by Ed and Pat, family friends who suffered the loss of their home in the June floods. Ed and Pat fixed the apartment up really cozy and have been wonderful neighbors to have near us. They left last week to visit their daughter and family in Alabama for a few months.
This morning, Mike went out to the workshop attached to the apartment to get our truck so that we could drive into church with the pick-up today. We never made it to church. Upon entering the workshop, he saw a fountain of water spraying with fury...a broken water pipe. We have no idea how long it had been spraying but evidently long enough to soak the apartment...water all over the floors, running down the walls, into light fixtures, you get the picture. We got the water turned off and began the work of emptying out the apartment into our garage and house. After a few hours of work, I called my brother, Tracy, to see if he was available to come help for awhile.
One thing about my brother, Tracy, and his wife, Joan, is that they are available people. My folks are too. They are the kind of people who come to the aid of others at the very first hint of need, and they're the last to leave...checking to make sure everything is covered and cared for before checking out. Do you know people like that? No matter how busy their lives may be, you never know it, because they prioritize being good neighbors to people in the arrangement of their lives. They're a beautiful witness of good neighboring.
We're involved in a series at our church called "The Jesus Creed". It's a 40 day journey of better loving God and loving our neighbor. My prayer today as I worked alongside Mike, Nathan, Sara, my brother Tracy, and our friend, Michelle, was to ask God to help me always be an available, approachable person. That my life will never be so unavailable due to busy-ness that family and friends pass over my name in their minds as they consider who might be available and gladly willing to lend a hand in a time of need.
Oh, Laura, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this! And I feel badly for Ed and Pat, who have had huge flood loss. Thank goodness for Tracy and Joan and your mom and dad... That type of availability is something that should, but often doesn't, define us as Christians.
ReplyDeleteLaura --- I just feel terrible for what you all had to go through... My first thoughts went immediately to the folks you helped out by allowing them to live there, & the irony of them being flooded out, yet, again! But, what a wonderful thing to reflect on concerning being available to others in their time of need.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I fall into the category of not being "that available" as I once was due to the different role that I now have... I've had to make peace with that - which at first was very difficult, since I was the type that would run to the rescue at the first sign when a friend was in need. I have resolved to ask God to help me never lose touch with those that struggle... that I don't get so far removed from where I once was, that I forget what it's like to be hurting, or in need.
How beautiful that God allows us to experience what we could never learn through books or someone else’s story...
Judy, I know the tension that lies in "being available". Seasons of life such as parenthood and the specific call God has for each of us may create less space in our day to be spontaneously available. But, it's always so good to recognize this tension and to be intentional about being "interruptable". And by the way, friend, I've watched you get available to help a neighbor in many a situation.
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