A Neighborly Gift

A Neighborly Gift

I met my neighbor Timothy while I was writing on my porch steps with sidewalk chalk. The four concrete steps up to my red wooden porch lure me like a white canvas tempts a painter. I see them and imagine ways to fill them up with words and color.

One morning I was busy lettering the words to a hymn on the steps and had my back to the sidewalk. I heard someone say, “Hello.” I turned around and saw a middle-aged guy wearing shorts, a jersey, and a ball cap. “What are you writing?” he asked. And I showed him the stanza I had chosen to decorate the steps.

He seemed interested in the words, and we began to chat. Timothy lives nearby and does odd jobs in the neighborhood: landscaping, light construction, trash hauling. Because of the text I’d chosen for the day, we talked about faith. He believes in God, he told me, but he doesn’t go to church much. I invited him to mine, and he seemed genuinely surprised. He knew of it, had driven by, but had never been inside.

“You should come,” I told him. “It’s a special place, full of sweet, caring people.” He was hesitant and asked several questions to flush out just how “religious” I really was. “I just love Jesus,” I finally said. “He’s been really, really good to me.”

Before he left, Timothy wrote his name and phone number on a scrap of paper and handed it to me. “I hope we get to talk again,” he said. The next time he stopped by, he noticed the empty planter (which I’d been meaning to fill with flowers) on the porch. “Can I take this and put something in it for you?” he asked. “Well,” I said, “it’s attached. So it’s not going anywhere.” We both laughed, and he left, wishing me a happy Easter.

Two days later I came home in the middle of the day to a well-watered planter full of purple gnome. I don’t know what motivated Timothy, and I confess I’m a little wary of his attention. But I want to know and love my neighbors in Jesus’ name. And maybe, just maybe, Timothy does too.

If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

Matthew 10:42