Please keep this confidential, OK? A few neighborhoods ago, a neighbor offended me greatly by not inviting my daughter to an event; our girls had never- from their very first meeting as toddler – gotten along well. I lashed off a quick message telling her what I thought of her, her daughter, their little event, and the years of insult we had endured… you get the ugly picture, right?

Just before I pressed send, I paused… maybe I ought to sleep on this.

I filed the message for later and did not send it. The next day she called me. “Can you come over?” She was distraught over a family crisis. I sat with her while she made calls and her family came together. While we waited, she shared other stressful issues their family had been dealing with.

All this time I had been so absorbed in MY feelings and MY daughter’s pain and MY offence and how she had treated ME… with no idea of the pain and tragedy and triumph going on right across the street. Turns out the mis-invite was a mistake and since I had held my tongue (for once! Thank you, Lord!) I was able to minister to her and help her through a crisis.

Moral of the story: there is always more than meets the eye. “Hurting people hurt people,” my Dad taught me. I bet there is more to her story than you know, and you may be caught in the wake of a whole different set of problems. She may be jealous of you over something, too. Only God knows, and thankfully you are already trusting Him for a heart of compassion, kindness, humility…bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone.

All the more reason we neighbors need to stick together! Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away, some wise guy once said.

I’m praying with you for reconciliation.