One of my neighbor's got locked out of the house by her boyfriend today. On purpose. She just stood there pounding and yelling (softly, if that's possible to understand), anger and exasperation tearing her voice.And of course, there I was, in my backyard, diagonal from hers, sitting on my patio, "inconspicuously." Except for the fact that my dumb dog is howling.
Well, that makes her turn around, and there I am, just awkwardly placed in the whole picture. So what do I do?
Well, who knows what took hold of me, but I just stared down at my feet and closed my eyes, hoping that she'd go back to her pounding, and forget about me. She did go back to her pounding. Who knows what she thought of me.
After that, I tried my best to gather up my awkwardness and walk inside, leaving my neighbor and her life behind me.
And I couldn't help it.
It had me thinking for the rest of the day.
Mainly about a quote I heard once by Johnathan Wesley.
"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
I pray that God allows me another opportunity to talk to my neighbor.
I regret not gathering up my awkwardness and walking the OTHER direction, towards my neighbor, instead of into my house.
I guess in many ways, awkwardness is just a hindrance that keeps us from doing the things we need to do.
Next time I'll be gathering up my courage instead, thank you.
