Invited In

Invited In

It is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

We moved into our current home on our oldest daughter’s first birthday—a neutral two-story house with a secluded backyard and a light, airy feel inside that I adored. It was winter when we moved onto the quiet cul-de-sac, but as it turned the corner toward spring, we quickly met our new neighbors.

At our previous home, we spent time with two couples but didn’t take the time to get to know anyone else. Now that we had a child, we really wanted to make more of an effort to become involved with the people who lived around us.

We realized right away that we had moved into a great neighborhood. There were kids and adults of varying ages and stages of life, and they had already established traditions that they invited us to join. One couple invited us to their annual Halloween party. Another neighbor across the street organized Secret Santa and brunch for all the ladies. Our neighbors waved as I drove past, chatted with me at the mailbox, and crossed their yards to say hello as I walked by.

As the years went on, they spoke kindly to my three children, who pestered them at every turn, asking if they could play with their pets or their lawn toys. They’ve invited us to birthday parties, just-for-fun parties, and graduations. As a collective group, we’ve sent flowers when someone was grieving the loss of a parent and gone on a dinner cruise on Lake Minnetonka. We’ve watched children grow up, listened to pounding hammers as new houses went up and new families arrived, and witnessed how our neighbors embraced those new arrivals too.

Scripture often reminds us to love our neighbor as we do ourselves, and I’m grateful our neighbors did this for us. They invited us into the community they’d already established, not seeing their traditions as reasons to exclude others, but as opportunities to invite them in. Through their example, I have become much more likely to extend a hand of friendship to those around us over the years. Because of their kindness, I don’t just consider those who live close to me as simply neighbors; I also consider them friends.

— Kristin

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Reach out to a neighbor and invite them to join you in either an established tradition or a new venture, whether it’s a book club, bonfire, or neighborhood cookout.