When life gives you neighbors....

Last May, my roommates and I decided to move out of seminary housing into a neighborhood. We wanted to save money, be away from room inspections, and be a part of the actual community. The day that my roomies moved in (I was in Poland at the time), our neighbors brought us tons of food from a cookout to get us through until we had time to run to the grocery store. Since that day, we have an unofficially adopted "family" of five.

However, a single mom who struggles with depression while taking care of a 16 year old, an 8 year old, and twin five year olds is quite the family to walk into. The 16 year old has told us that she prayed to become a Christian this past summer. We were so excited to have a new sister in Christ! But since then, Abbylou has not really shown to be developing the fruits of the spirit by which believers are known: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. Granted, her home-life is NOT easy. Her mother has been "ready for her to move out since she was three." How does a teenager show love and respect to a parent who makes it so abundantly clear that she does not want her own daughter?

On the other side of the spectrum is the girls' mother. For the year that we have lived here, we have suspected Moni of abuse. She is definitely emotionally and verbally abusive, and she seems to be a pretty terrible mother. Yet somehow, her daughters still love her (and according to one of the girls, they have lied to protect their mom before!) She provides food, clothes, and shelter for them. She just is so entrenched in sin and anger and depression and (it deserves said again) SIN that she make very unwise choices. She plans to send her 8 year old to California for the entire summer to live with people she met online. When her daughters stay home from school but Moni thinks that they are faking it, she refuses to let them eat in an attempt to get them to confess that they are not really ill. "Sick people can't eat," she says.

In the midst of all of this, we moved in. The four of us have been spending upwards of 15 hours a week serving that family and loving every person in the house. We sometimes worry for the girls, wondering, "Are they in a safe environment?" We have cried with Moni when her boyfriend cheated on her. And last week, we had the police at our house to investigate potential abuse.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7

We love our neighbors, but we don't love the nearly as much as their creator does. We hurt when they hurt and grieve that they do not know the one who can save them from the sins that have so entangled them. Yet God loves them more, and He wants them to trust Him so that He can be their healer and forgiver. Since God loves us, we love them. So when life gives us neighbors, we make them lemonade and have a nice chat in the rocking chairs on our porch!