Our children

There has been some drama in our neighborhood this past year.
They have put in a group home for mentally challenged young adults next door to our house. In fact, it's RIGHT next door. There's maybe a dozen feet that separates our wall and theirs.
The neighborhood was all a twitter. Meetings were held. Details shared. Views discussed.
What will this do to property value?
What will happen about all the lack of parking there is already on this crowded street in the middle of town?
What exactly does "mentally challenged" mean?

Lots of questions by our neighborhood.

Nate and I had decided that throughout this process, the Lord knew who would be moving in next door. Those neighbors of ours are there for a reason. The Lord planted us beside a kind couple just north of us and they have become "bonus grandparents" for our three boys. We have been stuck beside neighbors that have hated us, though too.
We get that when it comes to neighbors, you are at the Lord's mercy.
We were reminded of that again when we found out the plans for next door.

We have watched it form before our very eyes. We saw them dig. We saw them frame. For a mother of three boys, I almost wanted to send them a thank-you note for just keeping my kids occupied and fascinated the past couple months.

Today was the offical ribbon cutting. We showed up with various officials and various workers all wanting to tour the new facility. As we all assembled in front of the house to hear different people talk about their hopes for this new residence, I was struck especially about what one man's story.

He told the story of his son, who has autism. He talked about being away from his wife on a trip and her going to the doctor without him with his son. When she talked with him on the phone that night, he received the blow: his son had autism, the prospects didn't look good and it was even suggested that it was the mother's fault: that she had done something during her pregnancy to cause it.

He pointed to his wife crying a few feet away from me, whom I am sure was feeling a range of emotions as she remembered that appointment, that phone call and now here she was at this house. He explained that this has been a dream of theirs: a place for their son to live and thrive.
I was touched. I choked back a couple tears looking at my two boys standing beside me. By the grace of God, it wasn't my story.

We toured the home. One bedroom has heated floors because the resident who would live there doesn't like furniture. One bedroom is a lovely shade of purple: the color picked out by the only female that will live there. We were able to visit again with the manager of the place who took us on the tour himself. We met one of our new neighbors: Franklin, who apparently loves kids and looked directly at Phin and spoke to him in a way I didn't understand, but Phin smiled at him and said "hello" anyway, after a little urge from mom. There's a swing set in the back yard. We talked with the mom who stood crying earlier and she explained that if we heard swinging in the middle of the night, it would probably be her son.

Our neighbors next door became real to all of us today. We talked with them. We saw their parents. We looked at where they would be eating their meals.

We don't know our role yet as neighbors, but we will do what we can to make sure they know there are people next door who respect them, love Jesus, and will do what we can to help.


Kristin