We sometimes say that when we share our hospitality it is in fact us who receive the blessing. I had another example of that this week.
Last Sunday we had a family of neighbors around for lunch. The three kids are often round at our place, but we didn't really know the three adults in the household. So it was a great time of getting to know them.
Conversation turned to us needing to do a minor service on our Mitsubishi Magna before this weekend's State Youth Games. And before I knew it we had agreed to buy our neighbor an oil filter, some new oil and a six pack of bear and he would do it for us, which he did yesterday.
The blessing is not just the 'quid pro quo' of we had them for lunch so he will fix my car:
Firstly, it was a real trust issue to give this guy our car. I don't know if he realised it, but it can't have hurt to say we value you enough to trust you with our car.
Secondly, being unemployed he said it was good to have something specific he could constructively achieved that day.
Thirdly, half way through the exercise one of them came and knocked on our door to ask if we could lend them a different size shifting spanner. Not ground breaking of its own but just five days earlier that wouldn't have happened. It is the fruit of developing community.
Oh yeah, and fourthly we have our car serviced :) thanks Callum.
That's great Nigel. It's great to hear that you guys are starting to make contacts in the area.
What did your neighbour want with half a dozen bears? I thought he would have been thirsty and would have prefered beer. :)
Posted by: Geoff Ismail | September 14, 2005 at 11:57 AM