Since last year, our sub-division has grown from four homes to an entire neighborhood of dozens of homes. What were once open fields with a few streets has now quickly filled with new houses. With those houses has come new neighbors; something my wife, Elaina and I have often spoken about and prayed for!

The question has always been for us; 'How do we make friends with new people that we don’t know, are of different ages and have different interests?'
We came up with an idea to just practice small gestures of kindness. We call it 'tossing pebbles'. The idea of a pebble is that they are nothing special. They, in and of themselves, are not that significant. Rather they may seem small and unobtrusive. However, we found that the small things can mean so much and can lead to becoming the start of a miracle of sorts; much like the bread and small fishes that fed the multitude.
The first pebble that we threw was during the ‘move in’ day of our neighbors to the right of us. They had the typical moving truck and a group of people who were helping them move. We found out that it was mostly their family members. We felt bad that we could not help due to prior commitments and being unaware of their moving day. However, we had this small idea. In all of our moves, we would get tired, hungry, and ready to just be done. With that in mind, we elected to throw a small pebble that day. We ordered pizzas and had them delivered. You would have thought that we saved the world! This has kicked off opportunities to throw even more pebbles their way.
We have built a strong enough relationship that we now have built a fence surrounding our two yards with no fence in between! This gives their sweet little girl and their dog more of a yard in which to play, and to us, is such a joy.
They love to sit and play under the willow tree that we planted in memory of the child we lost, which is fitting I would say. They have now started inviting us to birthday parties and holiday parties, and they introduce us as the “Good Neighbors”.
Our idea is that after awhile of tossing pebbles eventually we are going to find a rock pile as a result of these small moments of love and kind gestures. When strung together, they build relationships, and more relationships build communities.
We are finding more and more opportunities to throw pebbles to both them and other neighbors too. From renting a bigger dumpster to be shared with neighbors down the street to include their bulky items, shovelling snow from driveways, mowing lawns and giving gifts.
Our motivation is to just be kind and love like Jesus. Not to convert them in the typical fashion, but build a real, meaningful, lasting relationship in which they can encounter Jesus in everyday life. Maybe, just maybe, they will start throwing pebbles of their own.
Plans are currently under way to launch a microchurch in our small town where we will find needs to meet and throw small pebbles towards others!
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