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Good Neighbor?

12/5/2017

1 Comment

 
I’ve spent much of this week soaking in. (And that's not referring to our BC weather!)

I had the privilege of attending a conference for pastors and leaders at Regent College on the UBC campus. Each speaker took a slightly different tact on the topic of how we can get to know our neighborhoods and build healthy communities.

There’s much food for thought but here are a couple of highlights I’m still chewing on.

One speaker – I honestly don’t even recall which one – began with the statement and question. “Jesus tells us to love our neighbor. What if he means our actual neighbor?”

That question coupled with the following story has left me pondering my own role on our street.

A church set out to hire a pastor who would oversee the work of getting to know people in the area around the church – the congregation’s neighborhood. They received many applications, shortlisted the stack, and began interviewing their top picks.

At the end of each interview they made one request. “Please provide us with the phone number of two of your immediate neighbors as references.” Apparently the applicant pool dwindled quickly.

So, today I leave you with the question I continue to ponder. What would my neighbors say if they were asked to give a reference about my neighborliness?

With love and gratitude,
Shelaine
​
©2017
1 Comment
Rosabelle S. Birch
12/5/2017 08:58:33 am

Thought provoking...but having the phone number is not enough. Using it is quite a different thing! I know. We have several phone numbers, but not much of a relationship with the folks behind the numbers :(

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    In The Midst

    Author:
    ​Shelaine Strom

    I am a writer by circumstance, a career and life coach, instructor and speaker sidelined in 2012 by a broken-down jaw.
    ​

    I am a writer by design, one willing to venture down a different path in a season of pain and waiting, offering my words and watching God use them for His purposes.

    I am a writer by choice who documented the journey of pain, the decisions made around an invasive surgery, the miracles and the healing process.

    And now I am a writer, who also works with Food for the Hungry, and is eager to share stories of God in the midst of it all.

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