Your Neighbors – Part 2
Not too long ago I asked a question about how well you know your neighbors. As it turned out over 50% of you either don’t know your neighbors at all or know very little about them. Now I turn the question around. What do your neighbors know about you? What do they see when they look at you? What is their perception of you and your family?
Please answer the poll below and for extra credit you can post an essay a comment explaining how your neighbors know what they know about you. What do you imagine they think about you? If I asked them today “What do you think about your neighbors?” what would they say?
Loading ...Perhaps I’ll get a cook along up tonight. :) Broccoli soup anyone?
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Yay!! Broccoli Soup!! Are you going to make the soup again or are you using old pics??
Jenna
I think once I get to know them, or more of them, then my answer will change. You know, this really applies to every aspect of life . . . I’m not sure how many people know we are christians as opposed to just assuming we are. Know what I mean?
most of our neighbors are more like family…we laugh together, cry together, mourn, or celebrate each stage of life. we share good, bad, ugly, and even mundane daily stuff.
Of course my neighbors know me! When they met me they told me they don’t let their children play at people’s houses unless they know them. Their kids are here all the time now, so that must mean they know me ;o) Seriously, we’re those weird neighbors that have too many kids in too small a house, homeschool them, drive that big van, and don’t let our kids go anywhere without us. They like us ok and think we’re really nice, just a little on the odd side. A few of them we know on a deeper level, but sometimes that’s hard when you don’t have much in common.
I’m looking forward to broccoli soup………
As to the survey, it depends on which neighbors. They can all see us going to church nearly every week. They can all see that our Christmas decor is a simple Nativity set and nothing commercialized. These are outward symbols that show more that we are religious but don’t make us Christian any more than living in the garage would make us a car.
We show love to them when we can and have opportunity. With some we have openly shared our faith, with some we’ve had deep discussions of faith, and with other neighbors we don’t even know their names. It’s about building relationships with each family over time.
I reckon they all think we are crazy for haivng “so many” kids!
Okay, so I don’t have a fish sticker on my car but considering we are in the Bible belt, most of them probably assume that we are “Christian” because most of them probably consider themselves “Christian” as well.
A couple of families know we go to church but we don’t know them well enough for anything much deeper than that.
Getting to know our neighbors is something we are working on. Around here people just don’t get to know their neighbors and seem to think it odd if you try to talk much.
Nope cause we are Jewish, and that my neighbours do know! Only because we live in a small townhouse complex.
Ok, Grant’s Mommy, you got me there. LOL Perhaps, as you can share your perspective of your “Christian” neighbors. :)
Can’t there be something between mentioning church and theological discussions?
And how can a theological discussion shed insight into ones religion? Unless you mention Christ specifically, I don’t know how a person would know you are a Christian or not. Anybody can slap a fish sticker on the back of their car.
And why do you want to know if they are Christian or not?
I’d like to think my neighbors will judge me based on my character, not on my choice of religions.
Unfortunately, a great many people who claim to be Christian and are capable of holding their own end of a theological conversation quite well are living lives that do not truly reflect Christs’ love. I am a tad disillusioned by those who talk the talk but do not walk the walk. I keep to myself more often than not because of this. I have had way too many “Christian” friends at church who wouldn’t give me the time of day outside of that building.
My neighbors think we’re insane – we have 10 kids who are very loud (well, 3 are extremely loud, but they make up for the rest). I have two children who scream at the top of their lungs “just because” and believe me, no type of child training has curbed the mental illness I’m seeing in them. We need to move farther out into the country.
My neighbors assume we are Christian because:
they see us go to church on Sunday morning (protestant Christian time for church, lol)
we have lots of kids in a world where No One does that by accident
we are clearly not Muslim, which leaves Christian as the logical option
we celebrate Christmas in a way that is familiar to them as protestants
The ones who speak English have said “your family is lovely”, so I think they think that we are “cute”, lol, in the various meanings of the word. More than one has said that they appreciate our big family. THat is nice to hear in a country where not everyone does, by a far reach, appreciate this.
Katie my perspective of my “Christian” nieghbours just like us, I hang out with one of my nieghbours the most although our religions are different we do everything the same, down to our natural (well me trying to be) parenting style. She moved in recently (has a set of twins as I am soon to have) I think that is why we are closer than some of the other neighbours(the other side of me you really don’t want kids around).
We have only 3 households within a mile of us. One we have only talked to once. They own a big place so we just don’t see each other. They other two are right next door and we have mentioned that we are Christians. They do not speak English well so our conversations are limited. To me, the best way is to be a good example and to let God do the rest.
Our whole town knows that my husband is an ordained Minister. Kinda messes up your poll, but yes our neighbors know we are Christians and we have had theological discussions because THEY bring it up. lol
I can tell you that growing up, there were 7 Jews in my town, and they all lived in our house. My mom was friends with just about every other family on the block, so they knew us pretty well. They knew we “sang” before dinner on Friday nights, and that my mom made special bread they called “cake” and that during the Easter season it was good to check before dropping off a goody basket for us kids because it might have been Passover and we couldn’t have certain foods in the house. The lady at the end of the street knew we were Jewish but she still brought us homemade cookie trays every Christmas, and there was nothing awkward about it. It was just being neighborly. And when my mom would make her special sweet noodle cheese pudding, she knew she had to make a separate pan for the family next door because they adored it. We were seen as odd, but maybe in a fun way. Not a bad way. I have had worse experiences being Jewish in New York City these days than I really ever had growing up in a very Christian town.
All of our neighbors know we attend church because they can see us come and go like clockwork on certain days and times (Sunday mornings and evenings and Wednesday evenings). But also because we have had conversations about church. It is hard to have a conversation of any length without mentioning such a big aspect of our lives. With some we have discussed our walk, a particularly difficult time in our lives spiritually, or our experiences at church in general when those issues came up in the conversation. With others, we have only made mention of it casually because that was the tone of the conversation. It really just depends which neighbor is in question. The elderly neighbors like our kiddos and they know why they are not in school. The two families with children keep a distance mainly because we run in entirely different circles and schedules. And we were able to minister to one family through our involvement with their grandchild. I am friends with one of the ladies with children and only casual acquaintances with the other. In general, we keep an eye on each others homes and pets when on vacation. Half knew us well enough to mourn with us when we had a loss in our family. Over all, I would have to say all of us mostly keep to ourselves with some occassional exceptions.
My husband came out here to buy us a house without the rest of the family. When the people who owned this house found out we are a Baptist preacher’s family, they told the neighborhood while we were in the midwest packing up. For the first, oh, four years or so, no one spoke to us. Guess we’re scary or something, lol. But we have been friendly and given gospel tracts to all of them, and some are starting to realize we are actually human. And as for theological discussions (that is the one I voted for, but only because there was nothing half-way), one of our neighbors is a Mormon who asked me how one can be sure of heaven. His granddaughter asked him, and he didn’t have an answer for her.
…People are just different these days than they used to be. Used to be when someone new moved in, they were welcomed with cookies or at least a hello. We have a few fast-turnover rentals on our street, and when a new family comes in, we go over and say hello and bring a treat. But we never get our container back, and we have yet to see anyone make the first move with a wave or a hello. It’s kind of sad…
Well, considering only one other family has a car missing on Sunday morning, I’m guessing my neighbors know. However, I have to say that although not many of my neighbors go to church, many of them are more Christ like in their actions than me. My neighbors are always quick to help one another. When we had an ice storm and all the trees fell apart, one neighbor who was without employment trimmed everyone’s trees and cut up all their wood and only took the wood that we wanted hauled off anyway in payment. The same neighbor tills my garden for free every year. So, while they may be at home on Sunday morning, the fruit of his actions speak to the condition of his heart IMO. Many of our neighbors feel “judged” by other Christians and so we try to make a concerted effort to let our neighbors know we care about them and it doesn’t matter to us where their car is parked on Sunday morning.
My vote is ” Please don’t assume all your blog readers are Christians” :-)
Its funny b/c I never thought I’d end up living in a “new”neighborhood with neighbors all around, but 3 years ago we did just that. And its been a tremendous blessing. Our neighbors are a mix…I have a the greatest friends directly behind us with kids the same age as mine. They are Christian, and know that I am. I know they go to church but it is much more so through the way they treat everyone that I can tell. Another backyard neighbor happens to be the East Coast director for some type of Christian sports camp and we’ve had many “theological” discussions as well as just fun chit chat. I have some Catholic neighbors around, non Christians, etc. For any of my neighbors that I’ve actually had conversations with, I believe they know I’m Christian. Most know that we are active in our church, don’t allow our children to watch tv programs that most others are allowed to. I do believe we stick out like a sore thumb at times… but in a good way that I’m proud of. We had an elderly lady next door pass on from cancer about a year ago. I came to know her through visiting in the hospital and came to know other neighbors in the same way. Now that she is gone, a few of my neighbors (Catholic ones) get together on her birthday, anniversary of her death and holidays to pray in front of a tree that was planted in her honor. I somehow received the role of the “prayer lady” and they come get me to lead the prayers at these times. It seems odd to me, since as a Christian I know she is in heaven (she was a Christian). The Catholic friends are having hard time moving on and I try to incorporate prayers to be more a healing prayer for the hearts of those she left behind, rather than for the lady herself. Well… I guess I got sidetracked on that one but in short, I have many wonderful neighbors and I feel blessed b/c I understand its not always so. I would hope they recognize me as a Christian through the way I live my life rather than through any claims of Christianity or Fish stickers on the car or anything like that. Watching a person’s life and the way they handle it is much more revealing of the condition of the heart. I’m blessed to have very many neighbors that are very tender hearted true Christians.
Almost everyone in our neighborhood is over 80 so we are big entertainment. Some of the neighbors actually pull out their lawn chairs to watch my children’s antics. Yes, they even comment when my kids aren’t out for a few days. They want to know what illness the kids have had. Yes, they think we are strange but in a good way.
We have a brand new family that just moved in with a baby. Yeah, young people. Not that we don’t love the old people. They think we are outside A LOT! Just wait till summer comes. LOL!
BLessings,
Dawn
::whew:: I’m glad Grant’s Mommy and others answered already as well. I wondered if maybe I was the only non-Christian reader. I’m a Unitarian Universalist.
I’m guessing they think we’re weird. *smile* I wear skirts 99.9% of the time and I’m generally “always” pregnant. Actually, it’s just worked out kinda neat that way – God has blessed us with 3 pregnancies within three years. *big smile*
In a way I’m sure we amuse everyone. We’re gone almost every Sunday (baring illness or such) so I’m sure they know we are of some religon even without a fish sticker. LOL
We put up a 6-foot lighted cross as our only Christmas decoration, cuz we’re subtle like that. I’m pretty sure that gives us away as Christians. :)
We just moved into a new condo. We live in what I would consider to be the OPPOSITE of the bible belt. :-) Maybe once a week we see a neighbor. We always say hello and smile. But that’s it. Everyone is always dashing to or from work. I’m at a total loss as to how to reach out to neighbors that I hardly ever see.