Children attract children. And in our neighborhood, that is especially true.
I purchased our home when I was still single, almost 8 years ago. Marrying Joel did this house a world of good! If you haven't been here since he took over, you would be amazed.
And with the addition of children came the addition of children's toys. As Annabelle got older and Nora came, we realized we needed some outdoor things for Annabelle to enjoy. So this spring, Joel built a swing set. Two kids swings and a toddler swing. Nothing fancy but still beautifully built.
(right after the swing set was built)
And they started to come. Maybe it's that we were spending more time outside, but within days of Joel putting the swing set up, we had a backyard full of kids. One day, it was me, the girls, 2 3rd graders, a 2nd grader, a kindergartner, and another 2 year old.
Now, keep in mind, our backyard is what some would refer to as a "postage stamp". And that is being generous.
But God is teaching me a lot through this. First of all, it has really been great getting to know my neighbors. We have a family behind us that is really sweet and has a 2 year old that plays very well with Annabelle. Two days ago, after dinner, Parker and Annabelle ended up in the baby pool before Wendy (Parker's mom) and I could stop them. They were fully clothed.
(Parker and Annabelle - appropriately dressed in their bathing suits)
But the hard lessons are coming with a few children who live across the street. In the 8 years I've been here, I have had little to no interaction with their parents. And even though 2 of their children spend a significant time in our yard, they still have spoken little more than a few sentences to us. They are very nice kids, but with very little guidance.
No boundaries and no supervision means that we have had to draw some boundaries over here. The kids know they have to ask before they can play in our yard (though it's really a formality). But more than once, KS (who is 8) and KR (who is 9) have asked to have dinner at our house. And one afternoon, KS rang our doorbell twice in 2 hours to see if Annabelle could play. She is 2.
Every day my heart breaks a little bit more. And I am reminded of how much God loves these children. And, the harder part, their moms.
God's Word says to "Love your neighbor as yourself". For some of our neighbors, that is easy. And for others, it is the true test of our faith. Are we really willing to love those who are so different than us in such a significant way?
