Ideas for service

I had one of the coolest experiences yesterday....

We have neighbors named Earl and Carol (I know thats his name, and I'm pretty sure that's her name) We've been neighbors for 6 years now, and they are directly across the street, so you might think we'd know them better, but alas, isn't it how communities are in this day and age. I know that they are retired, they own both sides of the duplex and rent out the other side, I know that he is an awesome gardener (beautiful flower bed all year!), and he likes to golf - I see him load his clubs into his truck almost every day or unloading later in the morning. Not really sure what their last name is. We've always been friendly, but never really had a conversation.

Yesterday afternoon I'm working in the kitchen and look up to see Earl walking up towards our front door. They are taking a trip and need someone to feed their cat. Sure! Glad to do it! A little bit of chit chat and I ask if he's had any interest in the rental, which has been empty for almost a month. He responds with "a few looking but no one has called back." I ask if he's thought about Craigslist, but he doesn't have a computer (which I sort of expected because few in that generation do). I offered to post it on craigslist for him, he said sure! An hour later there was a knock at the door, Earl says "you are good! I've gotten 6 calls already." I watched a buzz of people coming by to look. This morning he came by again... the first family to come by didn't waste any time and rented it! The family had had a fire and needed to find a place pretty quickly, so it was good for them too.... He gave me a hug! How sweet!

It felt really great to know that something that required so little effort on my part could make such a difference. It was fun too! And now we have a new connection with our neighbors. So I'm feeling this need to find new ways to serve, and my mind is full of ideas. Hard to say when we'll be able to get on making any of these ideas happen, but maybe if I write it on the blog it'll keep me more motivated. I wonder if there is a way to connect with seniors to give them hi-tech help. Not necessarily get them computers, or teach them how to use them.... unless they want to, but just think about how much stuff we do online now that wouldn't be that hard to do for us to do, and maybe it could foster relationships with people who need people to connect with. Just an idea.... now its down, I might not figure out how to make it happen for a few years, but I'll be keeping my eyes open for opportunities.