When my family moved into a new house in Lansing, Michigan, a friendly young man cycled into the driveway and said, “Hi, welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Shawn.” The next day he returned and introduced two more friends to our sons and invited them to play.
From that day forward, our boys immensely enjoyed Shawn’s visits. They played basketball, enjoyed dodgeball in the basement, and rode bikes around the neighborhood together. We were delighted to see Shawn's positive influence.
When leaves covered our lawn, Shawn was there to build piles for the boys to jump in—and then he helped me bag them. One snowy morning, I heard voices nearby. Peering outside, I saw Shawn and his father clearing our driveway. They cleared other drives down the street that morning also.
Shawn was an incredible boy and it was easy to surmise things about his family. Our friendship with Shawn continued for a couple years, but we never met his parents. They lived quite a way down the street; in our busyness, our acquaintances didn’t extend much past the neighbors immediately surrounding our home.
One December morning, Shawn brought me an invitation to a Christmas open house. He said hesitantly, “I noticed you don’t decorate outside for the holidays, or put up Christmas lights. I’m wondering if you are Christians?” His comment took me by surprise. We were Christians. My husband was a pastor who worked as youth director for the Michigan Conference. It was true; we didn’t decorate outside at Christmas. We often spent Christmas and the week before New Year's at Camp Au Sable, or out of state with extended family. Since we weren’t home to enjoy the decorations, we didn't go to the trouble of putting them up outside. But we never contemplated our neighbors might think we didn’t believe in Jesus because of our decision.
Shawn began talking again. He said, “My family wants you to see how we enjoy Christmas as Christians.” I was embarrassed, and sad. I thought he knew. Shawn was in our home many times. We showed Christian love, and we encouraged him, but I guess we never took the opportunity to specifically speak with him of our love for Jesus. I searched for words to explain to Shawn that we did love Jesus, too, and accepted his invitation.
When I called Shawn’s mom to thank her for the invitation, I asked what we could contribute to the party. I had learned Shawn invited other neighbors as well. She explained that since she was trying to adapt her family’s meals to a vegetarian diet, she would serve vegetarian food at the open house buffet. She was excited to learn our family ate a vegetarian diet, too, and accepted a cookbook I offered her.
We arrived at the Lynch home and enjoyed a wonderful evening. I brought vegetarian dishes to contribute, and she experimented with a few of her own. After eating and getting better acquainted, the Lynches shared the biblical Christmas story with our family and their other neighbors. Our boys searched for different pieces of the nativity during a scavenger hunt. Shawn explained this was his family's tradition each Christmas. He and his sister look for different pieces in the days leading up to Christmas and complete the nativity with Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve.
We became friends with the Lynch family that Christmas. Their Christian witness tremendously impacted our family, a pastor’s family, and taught us to be more open about Jesus with our neighbors. This Christmas, will your neighbors know Jesus is home for the holidays? I encourage you to think about who you could share Jesus with. He is the Greatest Gift you will ever give.
Visit www.lakeunionherald.org for suggested ways to celebrate Christmas with your neighbors.
Diane Thurber is the Lake Union Herald managing editor.
