Vida. Risa. Amor.

In just a couple of months, it will mark our 7th year living here in Arizona.  Getting to know the neighbors hasn't always been easy since most of us usually just pull into our garages and then shut the door to get back into our air conditioned homes, and the idea of hanging out in our hot front gravel yards doesn't exactly appeal to many people either.  So though it's a bit challenging to get to know the people sharing the same street, I wouldn't say that it is entirely impossible.

I have to admit that I have been dying to do something for a really long time.  My "new" next door neighbors have been living here for almost a year now, and I could probably count on one hand the amount of times the Mom and I have talked to each other.  All that I know so far is that they have a trampoline with no fence, 2 dogs, 4 kids, the Mom drops her kids off at school about the same time I do, (and has cute pedicured feet), and the Dad comes home in scrubs and is gone every once in a while.  I also know that they have never once put any thought into keeping up with their beautiful mesquite tree in their front yard....that I have been dying to be allowed to cut back the branches.

So I stood in my own yard for about 10 minutes before I worked up the nerve to go over and ask the Mom if she'd let me do it.  Here's what I think I said, "So, um, I wondered if I could ask you something, and I really hope you won't think I'm wierd for this,....but, um, I'm basically trapped at home with 4 kids fighting over Mario Carts and computer time for the rest of the day, and I was looking for a chance to get out of the house, and since I really love to be outside and do yardwork, I wondered if you would let me fix up your front yard for you."  I was just waiting for her to look at me like I was an idiot and shut the door in my face, but instead she said, "That is so nice that you offered and I would just kiss you if you did that because I was just going to wait to make my husband do that when he got back from his trip."

I was so psyched!  I had something to do...that mattered, (kind of)....and I didn't have to feel worried about crossing the invisible little line that separates our gravel rocks from theirs.  I was once again in my leaf blowing zen for the rest of the afternoon.  I managed to fill 3 garbage bins with all the funky little mesquite pods that were piled up all over their yard, along with one dead bird, and tons of tree and shrub branches that needed some serious trimming.  I kind of worried that our H.O.A. must have gotten pretty laid back on their rules for them to have let their yard get to that point!

So maybe now when she sees me, she might just think I'm the crazy next door neighbor who cleaned her yard for her...but hey, atleast now I'm able to actually see my kids again when they're walking down the street or riding their bikes on the sidewalk. 

Jesus taught that we should love our neighbors as ourselves...and I'll admit that I don't know that I put that into actual practice as often as I should.  I don't think God would have laid that on my heart for so long if I wasn't supposed to have done that...and maybe it was for more for myself than it was for my neighbor. 

I know I'm "wired" a little differently than most...and I hope God keeps showing me ways to plug myself into the areas of life that He wants me to be connected to.  And I just love yardwork.