We have a little old lady next door named Louise. she is a widow and she has 2 sons in the area that if I am being honest could use a lesson or 2 in how to treat their mama. if you followed our 12 days of kindness she was our day 12 and that too will give you a little back story to her... last week we had plans on friday night and due to rain they got canceled so I knocked on her door and said "come on we are taking you on an ice cream date" she was so excited and rushed to grab her shoes and we were out the door... on the ride there she told us in the car "sorry I'm not wearing a bra" to which my husband quickly replied with... "its ok I'm not either", I on the other hand couldn't stop giggling ;) while we were getting ice cream she talked a little about wanting to move back to FL since her sons clearly don't want her here. Selfishly I clearly do not want this to happen because we love her! Gentry LOVES her and we have taken her in as her adopted grandma. so today we decided was the perfect day to show Louise some kindness and love on her a bit more. Gentry colored her some artwork and told me what to write on the card and I transcribed it... the card was clearly direct out of the mouth of a 2 year old, but the most precious thing ever. it showed me the pure love in her heart that she has for Miss Louise... I don't remember it word for word, but it was pretty close to this...
"I love you. You are pretty. thanks for neighbor, I love you all pretty. you are my friend. I love louise, yes I love louise. I love you, love Gentry"
I wrote Louise a little something too and then we put some Hugs in a cute bag and we went to go deliver it. Gentry was full of smiles and so excited to give it to her. Louise was shocked and said "you just made my day" with tears in her eyes. Gentry gave her some real hugs we took a picture and came back home.. and then gentry said "I do that again" :)
I don't think she knows how much she made Miss Louise' day, but I do, and I know it was the perfect medicine for a lonely little lady to be loved so much by a silly little 2 year old. Watching your kids love someone you haven't even prompted them too is so special. truth of the matter is, I probably wouldn't have reached out to Louise much if it weren't for Gentry. Gentry has taught me a thing or 2 about being a good neighbor. She is always outside waving to our neighbors, providing hugs, and blowing kisses. Its kinda funny how that works out considering shes a kid and I should be the one setting the example in that area, but either way I am thankful for the Lord using my daughter to help wake me up and show me how easy it can be to love your neighbors and work on developing relationships with them. I know the Lord placed us in this house for many reasons and loving on Louise is definitely one of them! We are thankful for her and love her so much, and while yes sometimes she may drive me bonkers, and show up at the worst time to talk, I know that the Lord is using us to help mold the life and heart of Louise, so I have and will always drop everything to show her how much she is loved!
so here is my little take away today:
the Lord blessed you with a place to live and he put certain people around you, so how are you showing them kindness? How are you showing his love to them?How are you reaching out to them?
Your neighborhood is your biggest potential mission field out there, so turn off your TV, stop running inside to make dinner, and leave time in your life for God to use you (or your children) to love your neighbors... if you aren't doing it who will?
 | ||||
| Miss Louise and Gentry |
MAY WE BE KIND
Sweet sweet Gentry! I know that she is definitely learning a life of kindness from her mama! You're both encouraging me to make thoughtful actions a priority in every day!
ReplyDelete