An Original Song

One night a few weeks ago I started strumming on the guitar right before it was time for my son to go to bed. He walked in the room, sat down, and started reading. It was a sweet evening. This song came out of my time sitting there with my son. I wrote it to be simple enough for a 3 year old to understand yet profound enough for him to keep learning from it as he grows up. I plan to record it officially in a few months. For now, you have to deal with a computer microphone and a video where my lips do not match the words.

Love Your Neighbor (aka Egg Ministry)

When Hurricane Ike blew through Houston a few years ago my mom lost power for a little over a week. I remember talking to her a few days after her power returned. I asked her if she was happy to have AC and TV again. She said she was, but that she kind of missed the way things were during that week without power. Without AC she was forced to spend time outside with all of the neighbors who also did not have AC. People started sharing food and water because the stores were not fully functioning. As soon as the power came back on people moved on with their busy lives and stopped talking to one another. It's weird that a natural disaster had to happen to show people how their lives were intended to be lived. As soon as the natural disaster cleared people forgot and moved on.

I am always looking for ways to love my neighbors well just for the sake of loving them well. Tragically, I am often too tired from church ministry that I do not have energy to spend building relationships with my neighbors. However, raising chickens has given me an excuse to get out and talk to people. We get about 6 eggs a day from our chickens. If we eat eggs, we only eat about 3 a day. We end up with an extra dozen eggs ever few days. I love the community I am building with a simple gesture of giving away a dozen eggs to somebody I see daily but never talk to. I hope that I realign my priorities so that I can continue to build relationships with the people around me. I encourage you to look for ways you can get out and get to know and love your neighbors. Bake them cookies. Invite them over for dinner. Buy a bunch of chickens and give them eggs. Let's not wait for a natural disaster to occur to give us the motivation to love and to love well.