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On Hospitality and God-nudges

And now for the continuation of Hospitality and God-nudges.
After having my Moses moment, I went into prayer. I knew what God was nudging me to do but I didn’t know how He was wanting me to go about it.
And I started figuring that my miserable fiasco failures of the past were in all probability because I wasn’t going about it God’s way but my way.
I’d very much like it if things went God’s way this time.
So I prayed.
And I prayed some more.
And some more.
I wrote the God-nudges in my prayer journal and started jotting down ways I could show hospitality to my neighbors. Lots of little ways. And I’ve prayed over that list.
Waiting for the God-nudge to do something.
Because I’m now a firm believer in the God-nudge.
The nudge came Monday nite.
Mr. Steady and the kiddos were all outside; we were going to have a family campfire. I was inside puttering; picking up and putting away, fixing the toilet that wouldn’t stop running- you know- the usual Momma Puttering stuff. And I looked out the window and saw one of our neighbors in his little boy in the backyard talking with Mr. Steady.
Nudge.
I stayed in the bathroom.
Nudge.
I prayed.
I went outside and said hello.
Simple but again a hard thing for me to do (in the context of being scared of my neighbors. Yes, I know this is strange but all I can say is I’m still holding on to hurts from my past fiascos and yes, I am working on that.)
Mr. Conductor had sized up the little boy and went and got him a few toys he thought the boy would like. The little boy, who is almost 3, really just wanted to wander around the yard and follow the big girls. Mr. C didn’t understand this but watched with interest.
I ended up taking the little boy to see the girls’ fairy garden and Mr. C’s gnome garden and helped him pick a few prickly roses for his momma.
Ah, my first tentative steps at hospitality.
Then another nudge.
I asked our neighbor-man about his younger boy and in the course of that short conversation I remembered the 8 bags of outgrown Mr. C clothes on my front porch (forgot to put them in the car and take them to Little Busy Town on errand day).
So to make my long, convoluted story short- I excused myself, grabbed a large empty sack and quickly pulled out all the 24 mos. clothes I could find. I ended up filling not one but two bags.
By this time Mr. Neighbor-man’s wife had come home and so he and his little boy went back home.
Gulp.
I was okay with giving him the bags when he was still at my home.
Now he wasn’t.
[Yes, I am quite aware that my fears are silly and ungrounded but I’m being very honest with myself here.]
I asked My Mr. Steady if he’d be willing to help carry a bag and go over to their house with me.
Of course he did.
Short, nervous with butterflies walk across the street, greeted by a perplexed neighbor-lady, followed by my inane babble at the door about the clothes, the giving of the clothes and our exit.
And then I inhaled breath.
God-nudge mission accomplished.
How did I feel? Relieved and yet edgy. I had obeyed God’s nudge.
It was a two-fold thing: I had eliminated the need to haul two bags of clothes to Goodwill and more importantly I had helped out a neighbor who had expressed a need. I knew right then that it wasn’t my mistake in forgetting to put those bags in the car on errand day. God knew.
He provided me an opportunity.
He used me in a way I hadn’t expected.
I am reminded to expect the unexpected when God is in charge and to look for opportunities to get nudged by God to show hospitality to those nearby.
Every morning I pray “Lord, make me a blessing to someone today.” And yet I have kept my blinders on in regards to those nearby because of my past fiascos.
God and I are now working on that. I’d like to say that it’s simple and easy and I’m totally onboard. But that’s not reality. Reality is that I am still a wee bit freaked out by all of this.
Plus I don’t want to get carried away and get ahead of God. I do seem to have a bit of a problem with that. Gung-ho and then burn-out.
So I will continue to pray- specifically asking God to open my eyes to the opportunities right nearby and show me ways to bless my neighbors.
And I’ll be waiting for that next God-nudge.

great post!

2:01 PM, 2008-Jun-25 .. Posted by jodi

love the idea of God nudges - I keep trying to remind myself to be paying attention so I don't miss them!
Thanks for the great thoughts!!

Amy!

3:35 PM, 2008-Jun-25 .. Posted by sweetie

You are so me!! God keeps nudging me to jump into the deep end of all His plans and yet I still prefer one toe at a time! Please email me at ajoyfulplace@gmail.com!
hugs
s

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10:14 PM, 2008-Jun-25 .. Posted by gabbie427

I could have written this. You sounds much like me. I have to admit there are times we are not very neighborly either (doggie do-do int he yard, neighbors who think it is funny to spray paint junk on their garages, neighbors who rent and could care less what the yard looks like, and trample our grass till it is simply mud! I could go on. LOL And yet,Matthew a few weeks ago was trimming limbs on our side of the property line and offered to trim some on the neighbors yard as well. We try more now than we used to I suppose. But I still long for a house in the country where I don't have to! LOL

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo

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10:19 PM, 2008-Jun-25 .. Posted by gabbie427

Loved your post, yet again. I think one God nudge was for you to write these 2 blogs to share with us, and inspire us to listen to our own God nudges. Thanks for listening!

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo

Just when I thought things had "settled down" ... ;o)

9:48 AM, 2008-Jun-26 .. Posted by Fantine

I've been dealing with my own "God-nudges" (what a great saying!) over exactly the same issues. We've always shared our garden goodies with our neighbors but we've never really had much "interaction" with them beyond that. They're actually all very nice but I'm just very much an introvert. God has been doing just a wee bit more than "nudging" me lately in this very area (sometimes it feels more like a good hard shove!) and I've been praying about it.

After reading your two wonderful posts yesterday (and having made two loaves of homemade bread yesterday morning to accompany dinner -- although we could certainly eat both loaves [GASP!]), I took the second loaf to a neighboring family with four children last evening. After they put aside their water ice to eat the entire loaf of bread, the mom came over to our house (a first) to thank me and we wound up talking and getting to know each other until well into the wee small hours of the morning. So much for my introverted self!

Thanks for the extra nudging; it was just what God had been encouraging me to do.

E