Investing in Heaven

A woman once told me about her ninety-five-year old mother. The same mother who had 10 children and made each one feel special.
“All the people in the community knew that on Sunday night at 7pm, my mama cut the cake. People from the neighborhood came and so did people from church.” She smiled. “People still call to check on her to see how she is doing,” she said.

I was moved. So, I decided I’d try a cake night in our neighborhood. There are about 16 houses on our street. Tom and I live in the terrace level of our daughter’s home with her family of five above us. So, I had to get approval from the upstairs people. I told Sarah about the cake lady. “Sarah, I would like to do a cake night at our house and invite all the neighbors,”
“I’m not sure anyone eats cake but let’s do it!”

I sent out a flyer and prepared. I baked a pound cake (from scratch) and another gluten free apple cake. My grandchildren helped and licked the batter with maybe not so clean hands. We offered hot chocolate for the kids and coffee for the adults.

About 5 of the 15 families showed up. The adults talked. The children played and gorged themselves on hot chocolate and cake.
And when I say the adults talked—I mean it was real face-to-face conversation uninterrupted by phones. It became more than a passing wave or hello. The children bounced happily on the trampoline and played hide-and-seek in the dark. Some made new friends and others cemented
old relationships.

It was a good investment. For me, and for the neighbors. At my old house in Florida where we lived on a cul-de-sac, the neighbors occasionally played wiffle ball in the circle. We also exchanged small gifts at Christmas and celebrated holidays outdoors. People are important. And neighbors are people. Here is the rub. Sometimes the neighbors may not be open to friendliness, especially if they are spies. But try anyway. You never know what can happen.

One time when a new family moved into our neighborhood when my children were small and the neighbor’s were little, I brought them a meal. I think it was a Sam’s Club special: rotisserie chicken, bagged salad, cookies and a loaf of bread. I thought the young neighbor would be
excited, but instead she answered the door and started talking about some kind of weird problem of hers. It didn’t matter. We became great friends. So did our kids. They moved away about six years later but then other neighbors moved in that I could like. So make an investment in your neighbors that could bring earthly blessings and heavenly ones, too.

Here are a few suggestions:

1.Know the children’s birthdays and send a few dollars in a card.
2. Make a meal for them if you know someone has been sick or they just need some encouragement. (Or buy my Sam’s meal—it’s worth the investment.)
3. If you are a praying person, pray for them.

You never know the heavenly dividends you will receive.
Do you have any stories about knowing your neighbors? I’d love to hear about them! Drop them in the comments section below.