I’m not afraid of spiders, thunder or the number 13.
I was, however, afraid of my neighbors.
When I sensed God guiding me towards my neighbors’ front porches, I was terrified. I was afraid they’d be mean to me. I was afraid they would reject me. Heck, I was afraid they would like me and our new relationships would take up all my time. I was afraid they’d ask hard questions and I wouldn’t know the answers. I was afraid my house wasn’t clean enough and I wasn’t spiritual enough.
What are you afraid of when it comes to your neighbors?
I just might be writing a book that just might be published next year (official big announcement coming soon!), and your answers will be of great help on Chapter 5: Fears & Excuses.
Leave a comment with your greatest fears and excuses about getting to know your neighbors, send me a message at amy@theneighborhoodcafe.net or post on our Facebook page. Three random comments will win a Neighborhood Cafe Macchiato Moments music CD (and a plastic spider just for fun). Winners will be notified June 9.
Tell me your fears and excuses about getting to know your neighbors! Three random comments will win a Neighborhood Cafe Macchiato Moments music CD! Winners will be contacted on Monday, June 9.
Amy I did it once, and I am ready to do it again, and I AM AFRAID of Rejection. I need encouragement from my husband. The date is June 27, 2014 at 11 a.m. HELP me!
Julia, your date is on my calendar! I wish I could tell you that your neighbors won’t reject you, but I can’t. What I can tell you is that you will survive any rejection. Jesus was rejected, and we will be, too. But… if we make ONE friend… if we introduce ONE person to their Savior… that will be worth a million rejections!
Amy, you are a consistent encouragement and reminders, along with what God is impressing upon me. We are in an older neighborhood, and I am friends with four widow ladies, one who I believe is saved. My husband helps them with household repairs and they appreciate us. I know God is able and His Holy Spirit will speak through me. They know we are believers as we’ve given them gifts lending to our faith. Timing is a concern with my husband home evenings and weekends but mostly, I think I’m afraid of losing the relationship with these women when we have to live in close proximity. Of course, God is sovereign and can take care of that, too. We’re on a corner at the top of a hill, on a block that ends with a turn onto another street, so I could invite those on my street and around the corner. We’ve met most of them when we first moved here, and God may surprise me!
It sounds like you already have a relationship with your neighbors, Charlotte! Hosting a Neighborhood Cafe is only one way to get to know them. You’ve already discovered many others… a thoughtful gift, a helping hand. Your unconditional kindness is what they will remember you for.