THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

A couple of weeks ago I shared about our church’s neighbor who was experiencing distress—his wife has been battling brain tumor, her daughter’s cancer diagnosis, and their financial hardship due to the pandemic. Days later one of you contacted Santy and offered to cook a meal for them. So last week on Saturday this blessed couple came bringing food for our church’s neighbor. Needless to say, our neighbor and his family were deeply touched by this kind gesture. An update on his daughter: The tumor turned out to be benign!

God is good and He wants to pour His goodness on us, His beloved children, as beautifully stated in Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” And one of ways He pours His goodness on us and shows His love to us is through us. When we share His blessings with others in need, not only do we become good neighbors, we also pour God’s goodness upon them and show His love to them. And, that’s what happened last week.

Yesterday we celebrated July 4th. As we give thanks to God for His gift of freedom, it behooves us to ponder upon something that has made this country so blessed—good neighbors. Unbeknownst to us, there is actually a National Good Neighbor Day, which falls on September 26. It was initiated by Becky Mattson of Montana in the 1970s and was made a national day by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, who writes the following introduction to this blessed day:

“Understanding, love, and respect build cohesive families and communities . . . . this sense of community is nurtured and expressed in our neighborhoods where we give each other an opportunity to share and feel part of a larger family . . . .“ Amen.

Pastor Paul