"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR..."

Three simple words that are so easy to do when you have lovely neighbors but sometimes the hardest thing you will ever do if you don't!

My currents scriptures that I'm having to stand firmly on these days is Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 5:44

Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord

Matthew 5:44
But I tell you Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you.

Just a little background to help you understand our situation. When I began to pray that we would move from our home in Wagoner my prayers involved my hearts desire to be a "beacon of light" to my community, and I hoped that I would live my life as an open bible for all the neighbors to see so that I might be able to minister the love of God to them and if any was not saved help lead them to Jesus. I would pray every day that God would open the door for us to move and that we would be a witness to our neighborhood and of course I was always asking God that the neighborhood be my beloved "Washington Lane" As I prayed I had this image of me walking the neighborhood with the boys, making friends with those that lived there, always smiling and waving at the neighbors, even having morning coffee with other stay at home moms, having play dates with the neighborhood kids, and taking young mothers under my wings and being a blessing to them by mentoring them as mature mothers had done for me all those years ago. Of course when we moved into Washington Lane I thought "YES I HAVE ARRIVED AND GOD HAS ANSWERED MY PRAYERS" after all I prayed and TOLD GOD HOW TO ANSWER THEM and it looked like He did,but as always sometime the plans God has for us are not the plans we have for our self and that became evident when our house sale fell through and we needed to find another place to live that God's plans were going to be different than my plans. God showed up and provided and you can find that story in my older post.

I was disappointed when we moved from the beloved Washington Lane as I had held firmly this image of what I thought God wanted for us, but God has other plans and following those plans comes with rewards that are greater than anything I can hope or ever think of, and so I received this new house and neighborhood with great expectation of that blessing. I love this house we are currently renting--it is beyond my dreams of a home and is a true blessing to not only us but to the woman we are renting from. When I first walked in the doors to view it I felt not only total peace but God directly giving me all the things I had asked for in a home,I'm so content in this house I forget it really isn't mine but just a rental. But we were given a warning by our landlady that the neighborhood wasn't very "child friendly" and so I have worked hard at not offending the neighbors by making sure the boys do not go on their driveways or scream to loud while outside playing. I smile and wave to all the neighbors and work hard at trying to be not only friendly but to make a friend with them after all we have a very common ground of all of us being grandparents even though I am about 15 years younger than the next oldest woman on the block.


So in the next few posts I'm going to blog about the persecution we have endured since arriving in this gated community and my need to live out the word of God to LOVE THY NEIGHBOR!!

In the mean time I could use some prayers for strength and endurance as I mold into the "BEACON OF LIGHT " God needs for me to be!!