The Art of Neighboring

I’m blogging through the homeschool alphabet with some fellow homeschool bloggers. This week we’re on the letter N, so when I stumbled upon this article on the “10 Signs You’ve Found the Holy Grail of Neighbors” it resonated deeply and revealed that, in our homeschool, N is clearly for Neighbors!

I can’t imagine Jesus stuttering when He issued the command to Love thy neighbor. Our household’s been especially blessed in the neighbor department: The neighbors we just left would’ve been a very tough act to follow had we not selected our new house specifically for the friendly folks next door. Our neighbors before last remain some of our dearest Montana pals, whom up until our recent move we still saw quite regularly.

It’s only logical to cultivate a friendly rapport with those geographically near to you, whom you generally encounter every single day. Especially for a homeschooling family who’s frankly HOME an awful lot. Until recently we lived far from extended family, so we adopted our neighbors as our surrogate family. And guess what? They adopted us back. We’ve shared birthdays, Chinese New Years, Saint Patrick’s Days, Easters, impromptu concerts, childcare, pet-sitting, and more. They welcomed home Little Man, and we have celebrated their babies.

We’re almost always the lone homeschool family in the ‘hood… At a glance, our lifestyle might seem peculiar, and from the periphery folks might revert to the old “sheltered“, “unsocialized” stereotypes. By inviting the neighbors into our lives they’ve empathized and championed our efforts versus blindly scrutinizing, and truly become assets in rounding-out our kids’ education. There are frankly things that the retired meteorologist and his anthropologist wife can teach my kids that I cannot. I’m grateful that because of neighbors my kids have witnessed one woman make a living in the male-dominated computer industry, another decide to further her higher education as a working adult, another play music professionally as a side hustle, and yet another ride her own Harley alongside her husband. They’ve observed all different makeups of families and seen that each have value in the eyes of the Lord.

We are grateful for neighbors.

linked posts: Love Thy Neighbor, Goodbye Yellow-Brick Road, Sayonara Montana, A Tale of Two Sisters

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