A Whole Lotta Gift Ideas for My Neighbors

I was trying to have this post up before it was scheduled to go out to your inboxes today, but Noah was all, “Hey! You’re my mom! Aren’t you supposed to feed me, and change me, and generally keep me entertained?!” I felt he had a point, so I put the writing on the backburner for a while.

(Hey, while we’re on the subject, you can get these posts delivered straight to your inbox mostly on time, you know, if you wanna…)

You know, people used to be neighborly, back when we lived and worked in the same community, and didn’t have so much excess we were able to pretend we don’t need one another. And I don’t want to pretend we don’t need one another, because people are literally the only thing on this earth that matters. I want relationship, and I want my neighbors to know they can come to us whenever they need help or a listening ear. But the thing is, being neighborly has gone so far out of fashion it feels awkward to try to start a conversation. And that’s where these fun gift ideas come in handy. Christmas gives us the perfect opportunity to build goodwill among our neighbors and start working on that relationship we value. (A Christmas card is entirely appropriate, but please, resist the urge to include a tract. Don’t let your neighbors think you are trying to sell them something. What they need, and what you need, is relationship. With the relationship will come the privilege to speak Truth into their lives.)

This year we’re hoping to take baked goodies and a spice rub to our neighbors (see below). Click on the images you like to be taken to them on Pinterest.