neighborhood…
My family recently moved into a new neighborhood trying to get close to the community we hope to reach out to. At first we were so busy getting settled, getting the kids in a routine and getting the house to a place where we could call it home.
I’ve seen our neighbors several times, yet in the midst of it all had not yet stopped to talk to them other than a friendly hi. Then the last couple weeks it seems like I’ve seen our next-door neighbor outside all the time as if longing for conversation. So finally this last Sunday afternoon my kids (that’s right it took my little evangelist daughter) saying hi to them and began carrying on a conversation. We talked for a while about life and such. The whole time I’m thinking to myself, “I should be telling Him about Christ or at the very least invite him to be a part of this church that’s starting up.”
Then fear sinks in!
You know exactly what I’m talking about if you’ve been a Christ follower for a while. Instead I begin thinking, what if he isn’t ready? What if he has no desire and it shuts a door to talk in the future? What if he thinks I’m strange? What if?
So my prayer became, “God open up some kind opportunity making it clear to me that the time is right to share and invite him to come check out our church that starts in just a couple weeks.” And the opportunity came.
Last night after the kids had gone to bed I decided to go for a jog since I haven’t run much this week. As I walk out my door there he is hanging out in the driveway. He says hi so I walk over and talk for a sec. An open opportunity to share with him and invite him was there. So I did. Our conversation ended and he said, “I’ll see you Sunday.” As he walked away I head him yell at his friend, “hey man we are going to church this Sunday.” His response, “cool.”
Pray that God may open up opportunities for all of us to do continue to do the same. Realizing that our neighbor may be a whole lot more ready to talk about it than you might think.
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