plans for my neighbourhood

It's often a give and take when I decide to take a nap in the afternoon these days. Naps are usually for catching up, but it also affects that nights sleep. Bleh. So I thought I'd "thought stop" by blogging. This could be useful...

I have been inspired to reach my neighbourhood this summer. I've been thinking, mulling, praying over this for a long time now. And finally, there is something concrete. I'm gonna send out invites and title it something like, "It's about time." A little blurb will follow saying that we've moved to the neighbourhood for more than 2 years and it's about time we met everyone we haven't. So I've just bridge the obvious awkward thing of "what's the occasion?" question. This would be the first step to building rapport with my neighbours and get a feel for how we can be a witness here. I thought of something funny as I was trying to narrow down which neighbours to invite. We live on a long street, so we have to make a cut off at how ever many number of houses. So I thought I could say something like this on our little invite, "come see your backyard from ours!" But then again maybe not, cuz then they'll think we're spying on them all the time--awkward. Well, we'll see how this unfolds.

This all comes down to the fact that I want to reach my neighbourhood, but I haven't a clue how to talk to my neighbours since I grew up in the mnega city of Toronto. And it has been ingrained in me the paranoia of "don't talk to your neighbours, they could be criminals!" (that's for another post) So now I'm learning to smile and say hi. But the new neighbours replacing the previously very friendly ones, do not even make eye contact when we're both on the driveway. How do you bridge that kind of awkwardness? Well, then I kick into my old Torontonian trick, "I see you but I won't let you think I see you" mode. It's frustrating, because "I do see you and I want to say hi, but I sense you don't want me to say hi," so what do I do?

Anyway, I had this self imposed pressure that since it is my occupation to reach out that I "should" do so as a lifestyle. But I've never been really particularly gifted in evangelism, and that's why it made it my full time job. (other than the very irresistable call of God on my life.) So now, when I lay awake sleepless thinking about an outreach idea that blows my own comfort zone, I'd say this is a vision from God. So we'll see how this unfolds... maybe there is a party place that rents out a smaller version of those air-filled playgyms that we've had at Frosh week and Winter Conf? Apparently, if we can draw some kids out, then the parents may want to come for some hot dogs with the suspision that we have put something funny in it? Ok, not everyone is from Toronto. And not everyone from Toronto is paranoid like me.