Love Your Neighbor

Alternate Title: Karma's a B.

Boy, do I have a story for you! 

A few days after the Fourth of July, we were out in our front yard shooting off some of our leftover fireworks.  The seventh grade neighbor boy came over to ask if we wanted to do some of their smoke bombs, and of course, the kids were pumped. 

Let me preface the rest of this story by telling you the following: We moved into this house 11 months ago.  We live in a pretty spread out, rural neighborhood where folks like their privacy.  We have only met the neighbors on either side of us once or twice, and we haven't even met them all.  We have never officially met the people who live directly across from us.  It's weird.  No one brought us cookies or welcomed us to the neighborhood when we moved in.  But I'm not bitter...

Ok, onward with the story.

So we walked over to their side yard to proceed with pyromaniac activities and I noticed their high school aged daughter standing off to the side.  We had never seen her since moving here, we just knew that she existed.  I smiled and introduced myself like a good neighbor should.  And then I said, "You look really familiar to me.  Do I know you from somewhere?"  And she replied back sheepishly, "Yes." 

Stop right here.  If you have not read this post of mine, you must read it before you can continue on with the rest of this story. 




Did you do it? 








Now just let all the information you've gathered sink in a bit.  Did you figure it out?



The Harry Potter Carnival girl...IS...MY...NEIGHBOR!  MY VERY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR!  What are the flippin' chances of that happening?!?!

So, we made some small talk while the kids shot flaming things into the sky and I tried to reassure her that I am not a psychopathic devil-mother.  And she apologized again.   And Mike just laughed and laughed about it.  I think I can still hear him laughing from work.  The good news is that in 11 months when we see our neighbors again, she will just about be off to college.

So the morals of the story are as follows:

 

Also, love your neighbor because they just might be your neighbor.  Isn't that what Jesus said?