Out of the Mouths of Babes (I do get on my soapbox...you are warned!)

DISCLAIMER: I am not angry or mad. I am passionate about some of this.  My post starts one way and kind of diverges.  I am not throwing stones, just sharing my opinion and I am also not saying I get this right...in fact, I think I get it wrong a lot of the time...even with my wrongness, I still feel passionate about what I think we should do and be.  That's my disclaimer...you are warned:)

So today was a different day.  K and I kept our friends, M & P today.  M & P are 3 year old twins.  We had so much fun.  K was a really big help, he did most of what I asked even though he thought some of it was boring and no fun (toddler story time, listening to the lullabies on our CD, etc.).  So tonight we were praying and I thanked God that K was such a big helper and that I was grateful for how much he helped me while we were helping our friends.  And A stopped me in my prayer and said, "It helps us too." And I asked her what she meant.  She said, "Mommy, we helped our friends but our friends help us.  They are so important to us and that helps us too."  HELLO...my 7 year old gets it.  She gets that relationships trump everything else, busy-ness, things, time, laundry, cleaning house, etc.   Levi's message from way back hit me, the way we live our lives matter.  I was talking to a friend last week who gave up her day off to take another friend for a surgery and helped her out.  I told her how awesome that was and she looked at me and said, "Heather, that's what friends do."  As the twins came this morning and their grandpa thanked me for watching them, I said, "This is what we should all be doing for each other."

When someone needs help or something that we can give, we should give and help.  I get that my perspective comes from a Christ loving, Jesus following stance. Jesus taught to help and serve and give.   If I see a need and I can meet it, why wouldn't I?

 And then I get on my soapbox....why don't we do those things? 

• We don't want to give of our time. 
•  We're too busy.  
• Our own family needs us.
• We do so much with our church. 
• We don't get out of our bubble to make relationships to even know of the needs of others.  

That's all crap to me.  I think we have so many stupid excuses or reasons for not making relationships, it kind of makes me sick.  Stepping on toes I know...
I don't see any reason that people don't know their neighbors (I guess unless their neighbors are TOTAL jerks to them, I could see that).
 I don't see any reason that people don't make connections with the community whether it be through Mommy groups or similar interest clubs or something. 
I just think as Christians (I realize I'm diverging) we're called to do that.  We stay so safe by sticking with our "church" friends that we don't make ourselves vulnerable by taking the risk to get outside of that bubble.  I wonder what opportunities we're missing. I wonder what people God puts in our paths that we ignore or dismiss. 
Just to be clear, I don't mean make these relationships and connections to save their soul or save them from hell.  That is not our job.  If someone NEVER dawns the doors of our church, I'm fine with that.  Our job is to love people the way Jesus does and did when He was on Earth.  He loved the unlovable, the untouchable, the dirty.  We are to do the same.  I want my kids to get that message.  I love that I am seeing the beginning of that with them.