Drawing Circles and Lines
To love where you live is to love people where you live .
To love people where you live is to know how they receive love.
To know how they receive love is to learn and listen.
To learn and listen is to befriend and spend time with.
To do that is to cross the street, open a conversation.
To cross the street, open a conversation begins with a prayer: “here I am, God, send me.”
And when God is involved,
Every person
Every action
Every listening ear
Every friendship
Every endeavor and attempt
Every conversation
Every prayer
Always comes back to Him and His Word.
-Shauna Pilgreen
It’s Love Where You Live Day!
We’re drawing circles and lines!
Paper and pencil needed.
Draw a circle. Write inside: Here’s me (and my family).
Draw lines coming out of the circle. For each line, write your literal next door neighbor’s names.
Today, write a note:
I’m so glad we’re neighbors.
I said a prayer of thanks for you today. (after you’ve done so.)
I know we’re still living in this pandemic. What would be most helpful for you right now? Let me know: (insert phone number and email).
Can’t do this yet? Write down what’s keeping you from it: Is it that you don’t know their names? Are you fearful? Is there distrust or bitterness? Then take that to God in prayer. Now go back to steps 2-3.
This is the neighboring action.
I call it the HUB. You are the hub and the spokes that come out from your home lead to your next door neighbors. You are where you live for a reason beyond what your mind can conceive. We’ve got to believe that God makes our purpose far greater than what we can pen on paper. Yes, even in the midst of a pandemic. All of this is touchless, yet is covered with the presence of Christ. Place the note on a windshield, under the doormat, inside the gate, against the door. Us letting our neighbors know we are still here and we care always does something inside of us too.
Next…
Draw a few circles. This will be very COVID-19 applicable. Write names of people who you engage with presently. This will include names of people you check on, care for, work or engage with in various circles.
I have a church small group circle. I have a circle of close friends. I have a circle of those who are more lonely these days and appreciate the encouragement. I have a circle of family friends. What do your circles signify?
Circle the names of people who are of a different ethnicity and culture. This helps us determine if our circles include those who are different from us. While this might guarantee diversity, it’s not an automatic indicator that we are learning and listening. Let this activity challenge us all to listen more than we speak and make friends with people not like us.
Connect to your circles today:
Pray for everyone by name.
Send an encouraging text.
Schedule a few calls and FaceTimes.
This is community action.
If we want to see change in this world, it starts with us drawing circles and lines and making introductions and connections without hesitation. Just imagine if 200 of us reading this reached out to 12 people. Then those 2,400 reached out to 12 people. Then those 28,800 people reached out to 12 people. Then together we’ve reached out and encouraged 345,600 people!