Gift basket included: Milano cookies, chocolates, popcorn & a candle -all for around $7 dollars!
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
God calls us to be salt and light to those He has placed in our lives! I believe he places each of his children in a specific community and neighborhood to be an ambassador for Him. However long or short the season we have as neighbors, our desire has been to seek to invest in a relationship as much as possible, while praying and trusting that God will allow us to plant the seed of the gospel into their lives. However little it might seem in our eyes, each thought and care can be a seed that may eventually bear much fruit.
One thing that we have sought to do is to compile a small gift basket of goodies to welcome any new neighbor that comes into our neighborhood. Since we live in a condo community this happens more frequently than most, and does make friendship building a bit more difficult, but all the same, we desire to be purposeful and make little investments. This week I sought to take advantage of the opportunity as we have recently had two new units occupied in the past few weeks (one with a family, the other a single lady).
How can you seek to make an eternal investment in the lives of those living in such close proximity to you? It doesn’t have to be limited to new neighbors, you can bring over a basket of goodies any time, even if they have been living there awhile and you just haven’t introduced yourselves yet. It doesn’t take much. Baking goods is a fun way to minister as a family, if you have little munckins to include.
Other ideas to include in a welcoming basket: Sparkling cider, tract, homemade goodies (always the best and more frugal, as time and energy allows -unfortunately, not this week for me), small loaves of sweet breads, card, etc. Find great gift baskets at goodwill or a garage sale (these were found for 25 cents at a garage sale last week). I purchased the candles at the Dollar store.
We are planning on delivering our goodie welcome baskets tomorrow, that is, if our neighbors are home!
Same items as the first, just arranged differently
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure– pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:38
I would love to hear of any other ideas you might have for ministering in your neighborhood!
This is a great idea! We just got new neighbors across the street last week and I have yet to meet them other than a wave from garage to garage when one or both of us are hurrying to get somewhere! But my husband and I both have a burden to be more hospitable and outreaching in our neighborhood.
What a nice basket! My favorite thing to do for the neighbors is give them cookies. I love to bake, but there are only the three of us, so it gives me a good outlet as well!
I love the baskets. We’ve had a lot of new neighbors move in this year, and I’ve been taking them lemonade and cookies to refresh them as they move in in the heat. I also typed up a sheet with my family’s contact information, the addresses and phone numbers and simple directions to places like the post office, library, etc. And then I also make a list of nearby grocery stores and gas stations. I know it can be hard for people who just moved to our area, so I think it’s really helpful. I know when we first moved into our house, we spent several weeks driving around trying to figure out where the post office was since google maps was wrong!
How lovely and welcoming!
Good inspiration that it doesn’t HAVE to be home baked goods (especially on busy weeks). We live in an apartment complex–so I know what you mean about coming and going. I gave out homemade jar mixes at Christmas since I hadn’t welcomed anyone with a gift as they arrived, but I guess I should start to be a little more on the ball when new people move in and not be perfectionistic that it MUST be home baked!
Lindsay,
I just started reading your blog a little while ago and I wanted to tell you that you are a wonderful inspiration to me! I am getting married in a few weeks and constantly getting new ideas about how to live simply and frugally from you. You always look very stylish and well put together, while still being very modest.
Thank you so much for doing this. I am always encouraged when I read what you have written and I realize that there are other young women out there trying to live their lives for the Lord.
I love this, Lindsay. Last summer I started by baking and taking extras to some of my neighbors. I am very introverted so this was a huge stretch for me! Thanks for the encouragement to continue with little things to reach out. We have lots of renters in our neighborhood so there’s lots of opportunities for reaching out.:-)