Simple Acts of Love

Every week, Mission Year teams are given a night to spend with each other, fondly referred to as Team Night. It's a night with an extended curfew (11:00 instead of 9:00), when team members can go out and do something fun together, or stay in and have a relaxing evening without the normal hustle and bustle of Mission Year life. My team was a little slow on taking advantage of Team Nights at the beginning of the year, but we have all made a bigger effort lately to plan and execute some great evenings. We've gone to open mic nights at local tea and coffee houses, stayed home and played games, gone out to eat, and taken games with us to play at our local McDonald's. But last night was by far my favorite Team Night so far.

Yesterday morning, at 6:36 AM, our 19-year-old neighbor gave birth to her third child, a baby boy named Ky'Ree. We knew in advance that the baby would either be born on Tuesday or Wednesday this week, and we knew that our Team Night was going to be on Wednesday. We were hoping that the mother and baby would still be in the hospital on Wednesday night so we could go visit; it turns out that it worked out perfectly for us to do that!

Our house is really close to the Texas Medical Center, and our neighbor had her baby at one of the hospitals in the Med Center. Therefore we were able to take a short (30 minute) bus ride to the hospital after we got home from work and had a quick dinner. We took the elevator to the 6th floor, and then we realized we didn't know our neighbor's last name. Fortunately our other friend who lives with her answered her phone and told us so the nurses would let us in :) We quickly found the room where the mother and baby were resting, and there we were greeted by the baby's father and his grandparents. Everyone seemed so surprised to see us! We had told them we wanted to visit, but I don't think they expected us to actually show up!

All six of us crowded into the room and surrounded the bassinet to see this precious little boy who had just entered the world. I had never seen a newborn baby in person before; it blew my mind to realize that this tiny little person had only been in the world for about 14 hours. We each took turns holding him, amazed at how soft he was, how tiny he was, and entertained by all of his funny facial expressions. We spent time talking and joking with the proud mom and dad, and it was a really sweet bonding experience with them. We haven't been as close to them as with some of our other neighbors, mostly because the mother has been working so much before Ky'Ree came. But last night I feel like we established a new level of friendship with both of them.

When visiting hours were almost over and we had taken a ton of pictures, we asked if we could pray for the three of them before we left. So we circled around and held hands, with the baby nestled between his sweet parents, and we prayed for this beautiful new baby and his mom and dad. We gave hugs and were about to leave, and then the father said to us with a smile, "Wow, y'all really kept your word. You said you were going to come, and you actually came! Y'all are good people."

As we rode the bus back home from the hospital, I thought a lot about what I had just experienced. It was such a life-giving and joy-filled experience, yet it was such a simple gesture. It reminded me of the importance of simple things in loving people. I think we often feel the need to do some extravagant thing to show love to others, when it can sometimes be the simplest things that show the most love.

Today is the last day to make a donation to support my Mission Year experience and receive a sweet t-shirt in return. Please consider giving a gift of $50, $65, or $100 today. 

www.missionyear.org/love

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Neighbor: A Verb

The word "neighbor" is probably most often thought of as a noun: someone who lives near you. Some people might even make a reference to Luke 10 and the familiar story of the good Samaritan, saying a neighbor is one who shows mercy and love to others.

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:36-37)

One of the neatest things that has come out of my experience in Mission Year so far is the experience of neighbor as a verb rather than a noun. Every Saturday, my housemates and I engage in neighboring. We reflect often on how we can individually and collectively be good neighbors. Neighboring is something that Mission Year is passionate about, because it is something that we feel Jesus was passionate about.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40)

Not only in word, but especially in action, Jesus lived His life on this earth as an excellent neighbor. Jesus taught people how to boldly, honestly, and radically neighbor others.

It is exciting for me to reflect on the past five months of my life and to see how I have grown in my understanding and experience of what it means to be a neighbor. When I first arrived in Houston and began this journey of my Mission Year, I didn't think much about neighboring. I knew that being a good neighbor was an important value of Mission Year, but I don't think I realized just what kind of impact that would have on me. Over the past several months I have seen and felt the weight and beauty of being a neighbor. The first several weeks and months consisted of awkward Saturdays when we would often just wander up and down streets, hoping to meet people who were hanging out outside. This worked sometimes, but there were a lot of weeks when we would wonder, "What good is this actually doing?" We baked cookies and cupcakes, played with kids, made music outside, but we got a lot of stares and questions in return.

Over time, we met people. Some relationships began forming more quickly than others. As more time passed, these relationships turned into friendships. Perhaps this is what I didn't expect, didn't hope for. I imagined coming to Houston, to the Greater Third Ward, and I expected serving and loving people and then leaving. I knew I would be changed, but I couldn't have known exactly how. I don't think it ever really crossed my mind that my neighbors would become my friends. I don't think I realized the depth that I would care for my neighbors. And I certainly didn't expect the depth that they would care for me in return. I have discovered that neighboring means caring deeply for people and treating people the way you wish other people treated you. I am realizing that some of my neighbors are actually teaching me more about neighboring through the way they love and offer tremendous hospitality and generosity.

I started writing all of this so that I could tell you about this past Saturday, which was one of the funnest nights I have had here so far. We recently found out about a weekly jam session that is hosted at a local coffee shop. We had heard that musicians, poets, and others joined together every Saturday night at 6:30 to create together in an open environment. One of our neighbor friends is an incredibly talented poet, and several of my housemates are talented musicians, so we were eager to spend an evening there. Saturday afternoon, Patricia (said poet/neighbor/friend) came over to make some banana bread and banana chips with Abigail and Carole. Shortly after that, our other neighbor Drejoin came over and brought some fun board games. While several people were in the kitchen, the rest of us played games in the living room. We invited Patricia and Drejoin to stay for dinner, and while we were preparing that, Drejoin's friend Anna came over and started helping as well. We had never met Anna before, but she fit right in with our group. After only being in our house for a while she said, "There's a really cool vibe here."

After finishing dinner and dishes, we headed for the bus stop so we could get to the coffee shop on time. Due to our curfew, we weren't able to stay at the jam session as long as we would have liked, but we had so much fun while we were there and even while we were in transit. We were taking pictures, sharing songs and poetry, and laughing up a storm. We even broke out in song and dance to the Cupid Shuffle while waiting for our bus at the end of the night. It was a goofy, creative, carefree evening, and I wish I could experience that every week. It felt like we had all been friends for much more than a few months (or a few hours). When we got back to our neighborhood, we all hugged and expressed how much fun we had together. We were sad to part ways, and we looked forward to having more nights like that in the near future.

Neighboring. Loving others deeply. Experiencing life with one another. Aspiring to be more like Jesus.

Please consider supporting me in my neighboring this year. This month you can donate $50 to receive this sweet shirt that encourages loving your neighbor. For $65 you can receive the <3 God <3 People shirt. Or for $100 you can receive both!

Click here to donate!