Looking In The Mirror

Attending church on Sundays always seems to be a personal evaluation for me. I take in the lessons and try to look into my own life and how I can improve my relationship with God. I think sometimes the greatest source of growth for me is when I am reviewing my own lessons to teach the children. I am thankful to be part of a church that challenges me spiritually.

Today I had the chance to sit down and talk with an older lady in our church who shared with me that she misses having neighbors who check in on her. She talked about the people who lived in her neighborhood and how they are good people but they live busy lives. She went on to talk about how she would always take time to check on her neighbors but said in the last week she had slacked off. Listening to her was like getting a slap in the face. It was God's purpose for us to have that conversation today. Making time for others outside of church and family is a struggle for me. I do my best to keep up with the schedule that I have. But that's not enough, especially for my friends and neighbors. There are days I come home from work and I am so focused on getting in the house and getting dinner ready and getting Madison settled that I do not even notice my neighbor sitting on his front porch next door. We have really great neighbors and have been blessed with the neighborhood we live in. But I feel horrible at the lack of attention I give my neighbors. I do not even know the names of my neighbors that live to the right of me. They tend to live a life busy like mine and they have children. They seem to always be on the go. I am ashamed to admit this but I refuse to let this continue. It's so important for us to take notice of those around us. True, putting God and your family first is priority, but do not stop there.

I also have friends whom I have failed to make time for. God has blessed me with some amazing friendships and I am a fool to not spend more time with them than I do. I do not have it all figured out how I will learn to make more time for others but I know it can be done. I will make more time to spend with my neighbor on his front porch and talk about his day home. He's a good neighbor and we have had some good times with him but it has been a while since I have just sat down to chat with him. And for my other neighbors I am going to introduce myself to them the next time I see them in the yard. There's no reason why I should not already know them but sometimes we get so focused on our own mission for the day we do not even notice what is going on around us.

So as I look in the mirror and see the imperfections I will continue to strive to do better. I am thankful for today's church service and how it has opened my eyes to things left undone. I find myself to busy with life in general, sometimes getting caught up in things that really do not matter. I spent an entire day yesterday cleaning my house. While that needs to be done it is still not as important as time that I could have spent with friends. This will be something that I continue to pray about as I seek God's guidance. And I find this to be a good delima to be in. I have some amazing people in my life and I am so very thankful for that.