The royal law: "Love your neighbor"

If you’ve been worshipping at Resurrection in the past year, you’ve likely heard the invitation to “Love Your Neighbor” extended more than once. After my husband and I bought our first house a year ago, our definition of neighbor became pretty straightforward.

I’ve mentioned in a previous GPS that I am from Boston, Massachusetts. Do you know what we do not have on the east coast? Tornados. I experienced my first real tornado scare early this summer as my phone loudly alerted my husband and me sometime around 2 a.m. Checking my phone, I said, “There’s a tornado warning, Blake.” To which my native Kansas husband, knowing his Midwest storm terminology, calmly replied: “A watch or a warning?”

If you’re like me, there’s no way you’d know the difference between those two words: watch and warning. Taking his calm disposition as reassurance, I replied “Just a warning.” It was then that he sat straight up and said confidently, “No. There would be sirens if it was a warning.” The sirens began, right on cue.

“How long have they been going off?” “Where do we go?” “Grab your shoes.” “But we don’t have a basement.” “I’m going to check the news.”

It was happening fast. I quickly found myself on the closet floor, trembling with fear. We discovered the tornado was on the ground about 10 blocks from our home. And that’s when a text message arrived.

An unexpected message from my next door neighbor to make sure I was awake and taking precautions. We kept each other company in the safety of our respective closets and offered words of prayer. In my moment of complete fear, I also felt deep comfort. I’ve only known my neighbor a few months. She had her own list of people and things to be checking on; her own home, kids, and pets. But I was on her list as well.

In the morning, she came over to see how my trees were doing, ask about our response to the sirens and make a game plan if there ever was a next time. We do not have a basement, so they shared their garage code so we could join them. She shared tips of how they have prepared their home just in case. It’s brought us closer. We garden together, share recipes and photos and check in with each other more regularly now.

I see Jesus in the way she cared for me. We learn by example, and Jesus is the greatest example of love.

How are you being a neighbor, to those next door or farther away? I encourage you to think about who is on your “list,” and how can you expand it to include someone who might need to be.