The People in My 'Hood

"God sets the lonely in families,
    He leads out the prisoners with singing;
    but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land." ... Psalm 68:6

*****

So while I'm ironing Tom's clothes for his upcoming adventure, I'm smiling--not only because I'm watching The Middle on disc--but because of this neighborhood where God placed us.

If I had any problems while Tom's away? I'd feel comfortable asking for help from at least 7 homes around me. Seven! (Would've been 8 except the grey house family outside my kitchen window moved away.)

Mike lives with his grandmother behind us and he shovels our snow, cleans our storm gutters (do you know how hard it is to find reliable gutter cleaners?) and would give me the proverbial shirt off his back if I needed him to. He's like the treasure next door and he also helps the widow across the street who's lived there 63 years(!)

Paul next-door uses his weed-eater on our weeds along his fence, he and Robin (who's a hoot to chat with) give us nice things for the yard and they would drop anything immediately to help out.

Four single women live on/near the corners around us and I know they would do what they could (and I hope they'd feel comfortable asking me for aid). A man two houses down helped us when Naomi's rental car got dinged and he's like the Neighborhood Watch Committee all-rolled-up into one person. (One of those retired guys who would be thrilled to be asked for help.)

Oh, and our mailman is awesome. He strolls the sidewalks while smoking nice-smelling cigars and tells me about the little old couple who lived in our house many years ago and about his recent adventures over in Denmark while chaperoning his teacher-son's high school class.

All these nice people-- in the suburbs, even!

I mean, country folks are known for being wildly helpful and the ones near us out at the farm--yes--they definitely were. But, er, uhm, ack ... they were also awfully nosy and advice-throwers like you've never seen. And for privacy-loving, do-it-myself me, that was rough.

Our suburb neighbors blessedly mind their own business. They will chat with us across the fence or at the sidewalk, but they do not come over, point at our tomato cages and tell us they're upside down. Nor will they nod toward our flower bed and say, "That plant there. That's a weed." And they do not spray poisonous chemicals six inches away from my vegetable garden.

Bless them. Bless them. Bless them.

And bless God for putting Tom and me in exactly the right neighborhood for such times as these, these times when Tom travels ever so far away for weeks at a time.

As the Bible says, God does all things well. And that is why I try so hard to see and do things His way, not mine. His ways, His thoughts are a zillion times better. Always.

*****

"The world is full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."   

... Robert Louis Stevenson

"One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray."   ... Proverbs 12:26



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Free kindle books as of today, June 16th

The Old Man and the Tea (Ack! This one jumped up to $2.99 already. Sigh.)

Your Best Year Yet

The Naturally Bug-Free Garden