We have lived in our house for around 3 years. We chose 35 acres in the country setting because my husband wanted to escape noise and just enjoy living in the country. Originally, this was a 40 acre plot and the previous owners sold 5 acres to one of their friends. They then sold us the 35 acres and we put a house on the property. We were getting situated in the winter. The ground was muddy, the weather was cold, I was pregnant with our first child, and we never ended up going over to meet our neighbors. We definitely met their dog though, he was always on our property and our dogs were not so excited about it. As the spring came, we had a garage sale and their kids came over to see what we were selling. I had a newborn and we both stayed to ourselves. I asked if they wanted to come over sometime for a cook out and they said that they preferred to stay to themselves.
Not 3 days later, the parting started. The up-all-night, fireworks going off every day, not in the middle of the night, friends over (since they like to stay to themselves) and laughing all night until 1 or 2 in the morning. We were pregnant again when the four-wheelers started. They decided that a track was necessary and they were constantly on our property. We would ask them to not go on our property (mainly for insurance reasons) and to stay off and out, that seems to be when the pure disdain for us came in. They wanted to ride their four-wheelers wherever they wanted to and not have to deal with us telling them no. We built a garage on our property, they built and addition to their home. They would work on a race car at 2 in the morning and rev the engine. Which would always wake our sleeping children.
Then came the horses – there was one that constantly got out and was on our property, ruining our new apple trees and eating the crops in our field. I put the horse back into their barn myself multiple times, one time went and knocked on their door to get them to help me at 10am b/c we had somewhere to be and they were uninterested, just waking up.
The four-wheelers became a problem, they wait until our elderly neighbor across the street would be riding her mower and they would make it so that dust would go all over her so she would have to drive through it. They wait until all hours of the night – wait until we were out swimming as a family and intentionally throw dirt up in our direction. They have friends over all the time and party until all hours of the night shooting off fireworks making our dogs bark and waking our kids… I was never happy with them and never tried to make an effort.
About a month ago, something happened over there. Police and ambulances were there, there was a domestic dispute due to drinking. The wife attacked the husband somehow or another, and she doesn’t seem to be there anymore. We see the husband only once in a while and the oldest child of 3 goes to and from work with him. The two younger children we aren’t sure where they have gone. The four-wheelers are quite and the parties have stopped. We haven’t found empty beer cases or trash in our yard from them and it is eerily quiet.
I personally have worries abut them, A LOT. I keep telling myself- if only you would have gone over there and made an effort, if only you would have really tried to become friends, maybe it wouldn’t be like this.
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV, Mark 12:28-31).
So here I am, loving everyone else, BUT my physical neighbors. Making friends and extending myself to all these people all over coles county, but not my ACTUAL neighbors. WOW. I have heard this verse more times than I can count. I think it was my class verse at Asbury, and here I am feuding with my neighbors. What kind of Christian am I?
Yesterday was the 4th, we were sitting at home because we had gone out a lot this weekend and we were early to bed since we had done fireworks 2 nights in a row already. We heard the glorious sounds of fireworks being set off next door. AHHHH… Our dogs were barking, our kids were waking up, and my heart was glad. They only went until around 11:00 pm and we had our dogs in our outdoor kennel to keep them quiet. I think today I might bake some cookies or something and drop them at their door with a note.
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