Do you have fond childhood memories of that one neighborhood house where all the kids would end up playing? I do. There was always Hi C and cookies and we knew that we were welcomed there. Once I became a mother, I decided that I wanted my house to be that place. A big part of the reason why is because I want to know who my children are playing with and what is going on. The other reason is because my husband and I wanted to reach out and be a family to the kids who needed one. There are many children out there who live in homes where they are not valued. That may seem like a harsh statement, but I have seen it to be true over and over. The Bible commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. In my family, part of that command involves being a family to neighborhood kids.
This took some concerted effort on our part. When I would let my children out to play in the front yard, I would make a point of going out and sitting with them. As neighborhood children would meander over I would talk with them and invite them to come and play. I confess that sometimes I felt like a stranger with candy, trying to lure the children. Honestly, I was luring them. I wanted to be a blessing to them.
It didn’t take long for our house to become the neighborhood hang out. It was not unusual to have a few extra kids at our table and I always made sure to have plenty of ice pops on hand. Kids knocked on my door when they had a skinned knee or a bee sting. My husband often took our kids for walks after dinner. I laughed sometimes as I watched. He looked like the Pied Piper with the neighborhood kids running to join him.
One summer we had a “Backyard Bible Club”. Every Thursday night the kids and their parents were invited over. We would have hot dogs and a Bible story. We would then play a game and do a craft. All the kids had a memory verse to memorize and they recited it each week. It was great fun for everyone. Bible club started at 6:30 and by 5:30, the kids were sitting in our yard, waiting. One little boy would start knocking on the door in the morning, asking, “How much longer until Bible club?” We moved away shortly thereafter and my heart broke to leave the kids behind. I know we planted seeds that Summer and I know that someday, they will sprout.
I think that sometimes, as Christian families, we want to shelter our children from bad influences and we keep them away from kids who are not from Christian families. We always need to use wisdom. I am always close at hand when they are playing, listening to the conversation. We talk to our children about right and wrong and about sin. In one situation, the parents were on drugs. We didn’t hide that from our children. We encouraged them to be generous and loving to the kids.
I don’t want to raise children who run in the other direction when a needy person comes their way. I want them to open their arms, and to love their neighbors.
Over the next few weeks I will be talking about the Christian family. I will talk about the individual roles of each member, but first I wanted to talk about this, the role of the Christian family in the community.