This evening, Lisa and Kyle made some fresh chocolate chip cookies to share with a friend of hers that lives near by. As the kids were starting to eat, we saw the neighbor sweeping again in front of our house and decided to take him a few cookies. We’ve taken some before and he really likes them. So I ran and grabbed a plate, stuck some warm cookies on it, wrapped it foil and headed out the front door. I didn’t expect to be gone for an hour. Now most people have friends or even neighbors that they can talk to for that long. But if you knew this neighbor, you would realize that this is quite a length of time, at least by our experience. He has always been cordial, just not overly friendly. We chatted about the weather, discussed the nice temperature, and then started talking about the new sprinkler system that is just about complete in the school across the street. Then I asked him if that had always been a ball field. It was a leading question, I’ll admit, because I had seen old plot maps for the area at the city and knew that the whole area was originally plated to be houses but I really did want to know the answer and this neighbor has lived here almost his entire life. I got my answer, though, as well as a complete history of the area, a detailed recounting of the history of each of the houses on our block, and some strong words about the wealthy family that runs this town. Opinionated? Of course. I walked out the door knowing that. But what I wasn’t expecting was that we would talk so long. This is one neighbor that we have struggled to get to talk to and he rarely has a good attitude (we can count on one hand the number of positive comments we have heard from him in the last 4 years, at least before this summer). And all that from a few plates of cookies over the years. This morning, our pastor was talking about witnessing and praying for your neighbors. And as I was standing talking to mine, I realized that this was exactly where God wanted me to be standing that moment and that it wasn’t just chance that we had fresh cookies cooling on the counter. I was talking. Not about me but about something that they cared about and knew lots about. And boy was he ready to share. Thank you, Lord, for working things in your timing. Help me to be a light for you in my neighborhood today! Now, what are you waiting for? Go make some cookies!