Thanksgiving Gratitude Practice

Matt and Adam practice remembering the little things for which they are grateful every day and have some gratitude exercises that you can do wherever you are. What are you grateful for? That first cup of coffee in the morning... the extra hour of sleep you may have gotten the other night... the neighbor down the road raking the leaves in your yard... Gratitude comes in all shapes and sizes and it can balance our grief for what this holiday 2020 season may bring. 

Quotable Moment: "Abundance begins to appear when people start to say there is enough. We can live into having enough when we seek satisfaction rather than accumulation."- John McKnight

Matt and Adam practice remembering the little things for which they are grateful every day and have some gratitude exercises that you can do wherever you are. Quotable Moment: "Abundance begins to appear when people start to say there is enough.

52 Weeks of Neighboring - Week 37

Tip of the Week – Find a way to thank a neighbor who is a good neighbor.

This week’s neighboring tip requires a bit of a different approach. Instead of inviting you to think about your own practices of good neighboring, we invite you to think about your neighbors and their practices of good neighboring!

In working with different groups, we have learned that many people don’t realize they are already good neighbors. They have no idea they are making a difference! In addition, who doesn’t like to get thanked? Similar to ideas from last week’s tip, thanking someone not only tells them that you appreciate what they do but also tells them that you notice what they do. We think that, in many cases, your neighbors may not even know that you see or recognize what they do on a regular basis, and this could prove disheartening for them. We can’t think of a better way to encourage them than through a simple “Thank you!”

This intentional appreciation may take on many different forms. Whether seemingly simple or complex, here are a few ideas we have brainstormed, but again, feel free to come up with your own! Remember, there is definitely more than one way to approach this; this is an experiment!

• Write and personally deliver a thank-you note.

• Write and secretly deliver a thank-you note. (This may be fun! Maybe this looks like writing an anonymous thank-you note and sticking it on your neighbor’s door or car window.)

• Give a verbal “Thank you!” (Maybe this looks more general, such as, “Mrs. Smith, thank you for being such an awesome neighbor!” or more specific, such as, “Mrs. Smith, I just want to thank you for always waving and smiling so cheerfully every time you see me. This always brings me so much joy and makes me feel very much at home.”)

• Find out one of your neighbor’s favorite foods, make this, and take it over to them.

• Be Thankful even for small things like: Good Halloween candy, raked leaves, consistent waving, 

Along with all of this, we think there is something very humbling and beautiful about diverting our focus away from ourselves. If these weekly tips only cause us to focus upon our own neighboring, so much so that we are disillusioned by our own neighboring experiments and we lose a communal perspective, than we have truly forgotten both what it means to be a neighbor and why we practice neighboring. Obviously, this is not our intention. If we can begin learning to possess a more others-focused mindset, then we will truly begin practicing good neighboring.

Happy neighboring!

So Many THANKS!

Before too much time passes, I want to give some props to people who made the Immersion experience possible:

• To Elaine for teaching and sharing and walking with us

• To the students for their courage, insight and humor

• To all those who donated furniture, food, wood-working, time and money

• To our neighbors who cooked and baked for us

• To the neighbors on our street who are so welcoming to everyone

• To Envision for the beautiful work they are doing

• To Vicki and the Raise My Head Foundation for an inspiring dream

• To Camp Horizon for the bunks

• To the Apprentice Institute at Friends University for their support and unwavering encouragement

A Divine Appointment

From Matt…

On Monday, Adam trained our immersion students in the process for interviewing neighbors. After training, discussing and role-playing for 90 minutes we partnered each student with a SoCe member. I was partnered with Jennifer. At 10:30 AM, Jennifer and I set out to do interviews on one block of one street in SoCe.

We knocked on a few doors and got no answer. Then we knocked on two doors where the residents didn’t want to talk. Then Jennifer noticed an apartment at the back of one of the houses. It was tucked so far back on the house--we nearly missed it! We knocked on the door and were greeted by the warm smile of the woman who lived there. We explained why we were there and that we wanted to interview her to find out what skills and interests she has. Immediately, she started telling us about the wide range of skills and work experience she has had AND she bravely shared that she is currently struggling with a drug addiction. We asked her about her support network and what steps she was taking to deal with her addiction, and she shared a few great resources. 

Suddenly, her eyes widened and she explained how, that very morning, she had prayed that God would bring her people who could help her find ways to redirect her energy and move in a new direction by utilizing her talents. We smiled and said, “it sounds like God brought us as an answer to your prayers!” With that, she began to cry tears of joy, and I felt joyfully humbled that the Holy Spirit would include Jennifer and I in this amazing moment.

Through her tears, she exclaimed, “this is a Divine Appointment!” That’s exactly how it felt to me--like a pure gift! I was so honored that I got to be part of God's loving response to her. And I am so inspired by her courage and desire to change direction. I deeply hope our work with SoCe Life will continue to bless her in the path that lies ahead.