This is about my yard, my sweet half acre. It is grassy, and we once had a garden in back. Howard also planted a magnolia, 30 years ago and now it’s big. This is May, so the great white blooms are getting ready to come out!
Lots has changed here over the years. Howard is gone, so are many of my neighbors. However, I made sure to meet the new ones as they moved in on each side, next door. I’m glad I made the effort and glad they are here.
I know many of my neighbors, and I can see activity from any window in my house. That’s because the roads are skewed to each other, and there are hills too. My house is on a through street, connecting us all to two main arteries with lots of bustle. There is an alley about 30 yards behind my house, built for trash collection years ago. I like to walk along it and observe the neighborhood, especially the progress on the construction widening one of our main roads and taking the curves out. This is a big deal – immense sewer pipes are going in, utility poles are uprooted and replaced, and piles of old and new dirt are everywhere.
I am half a mile from a high school and less than 2 blocks from a neighborhood pub. Nonetheless, there is lots of green space and massive trees, a joy in summer. Such is life in this small town in the South.
I may have to leave this house for a variety of reasons, but then again maybe not! A fair amount of uncertainty is going on, true also for our country and our world. No one living today, in May of 2020, needs to be reminded of it. I believe if we trust God, the One who made us and who demonstrates His love for us through Jesus, we will calm down and become the people He created us to be – Faithful, peaceful and generous.