FLIPPIN’ THE RING OFF

When Sierra decided to get an apartment in Lubbock last January, all kinds of scenarios went through mine and Benny’s minds about what could happen to a beautiful young lady living in an apartment in the city alone.  We have lived in the same small community, in the same house, on the same piece of land for over 23 years.  Our living situation is what I am comfortable and familiar with. 

As “concerned” parents, we bombarded Sierra with questions like,

“Is your taser charged?”

“Do you hold your keys to use as a weapon if need be?”

“Do you look around you before getting out of your car?” 

“Will you keep your apartment locked at all time?”

She answered all our questions with patience and a few eye rolls.  In the end, we agreed that a “Ring” would be the best option to ease our minds.  It is a doorbell with a camera and audio capabilities on it.  When someone rings her doorbell, it shows her who it is on her camera.  After the Ring was charged and Benny attached it to her door, we made sure it was in functioning order.   We had a little more peace of mind as we left her there.

During our conversation the third day, I asked if the doorbell was working as it should.  Sierra said it was, but something odd happened.  A man flipped her camera off as he and his wife walked by.  Now, that is immature and there is no sense in that.  I told her to beware of them, they must not be decent people.

When she got her key and started checking her mail, she realized the majority for her, but the previous owners.  She put it in the office twice and it ended up back in her box,  Then she realized that some was addressed to her apartment number and some the apartment above her, all with the same names, so she called to ask what I would do. 

Sierra being the sweet girl she is took the mail to the apartment above her and knocked.  She could hear them making noise inside, but they refused to answer the door, so she left it on the clip by their door.  The next time she went upstairs to deliver mail she noticed that this couple now had a Ring on their door, too. 

Late one night a security guard knocked at Sierra’s door to tell her to “keep it down,” she had been turned in for being too loud.  She and her friend were watching a movie and there was no other noise  The next morning she got a call from the office manager saying a complaint had been filed.  When she told me about it, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that her neighbors upstairs were mad about the mail and wanted revenge.  Being the mature and wise woman I am, I promptly told her, “If I were you, I would write RETURN TO SENDER on every piece of mail from here on out.  How dare they!!!  That’s what you get for trying to be nice.”

But…Sierra continued to play the part of mail carrier.  When the artic freeze came in, she made sure to put the mail in a plastic bag and tie it up so that it would not get damaged, then she walked up the stairs on ice in freezing weather.  (Can you see the country girl in her, wrapping mail in a bag to shield it from weather?)  In fact, she made a quick mail run right before we left for MEPS in Amarillo. 

While at MEPS she got a notification that someone was at her door.  Lo and behold it was the man who had flipped her camera off.  She said she would figure it out when she got back.  When she got home the next day, we unloaded and headed up to her apartment.  A sweet note was left in the crack of the door thanking her for passing their mail on.  They had lived in her apartment previously and were in the process of getting the address changed on everything. 

I felt like a heel for being immature and directing my daughter to send mail back because I was upset about a complaint and a vulgar gesture.   Even after my oh-so-wise and Godly counsel (eye rolling here), she continued to do the right thing.  There is really no way to know who turned Sierra in for noise, but because he already had a strike in my book, I blamed it on him. 

That day, the daughter I had raised and trained and poured so much into taught me a lesson.

**Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.  Colossians 3:23

Sierra wasn’t doing this to get a pat on the back or to get the approval of the mail recipients,  she did it because it was the right thing to do.  Even after realizing he had offered an insult instead of kindness when she was new there, she made a conscious decision to continue being the bigger person.  This couple had to get a camera to find out who had been delivering their mail, but God knew all along.  He also knew what was in Sierra’s heart.

God calls us all to do the right thing and show His love to others.  He does not stipulate if we feel like it, if that is the easiest avenue, or if they are kind in return.  He also says that we will be known by our love.  With those small acts of kindness, Sierra is living out the gospel for her neighbors.

Today I ask, “How often do I react with hurt and anger in situations that really do not warrant that response?  Will I be the bigger person and continue to do what God has called me to do even when insulted and offended, or will I add more fuel and allow it to become a raging fire out of control?”

**”The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.” Matthew 25:40   

LORD, thank you for using Sierra to live out Your love, even when I adamantly opposed her doing so.  Please allow me to remember this next time I feel like I have the right to respond to rudeness in a like manner.  Remind me that others will know You by how well I love on them.  Give me the wisdom to stop for a moment and form a kind plan instead of sinful my knee jerk reaction.  Examine my heart and show me what bad attitudes need to be removed before spilling onto others.  Thank You for using someone I love so much to remind me what Your best is.  Bless Sierra and her kind, sweet spirit.  May she always be compassionate and sensitive to Your calling. Give me a heart and attitude to follow you and not my sinful feelings.  Amen

**But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.  Matthew 5:44

**But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.  1 Thessalonians 2:4

**By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:35

–Benny’s contribution this morning was this song.  😊

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR