...like a good neighbor...

you know, its always a good thing to have good neighbors...i had this neighbor who would constantly ask me, "Hey, you gonna mow the lawn soon?" one time he even asked me...WHILE i was mowing the backyard..."hey, you plannin on mowin the front lawn?" WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?! YOU'RE ASKING ME...WHILE I AM CURRENTLY MOWING?! you know what I said, "Nope...not today" and i waited 3 days until i mowed the front...just to be a punk. i can see my mother nodding in understanding after those many times she's try to get me to clean my room as a kid...still a punk she's thinkin :)

i say all that to say this, I love my neighbor. we've lived here about 3 weeks, I've had dinner with this dude, gone on a walk with him, been to look at an old table to see if we can fix it. Craig is the man...plus, if you want to know how to get anywhere for any reason...Craig can tell ya how to get there by bus, as well as tell you what is happenin all over Portland on any given night. dude's got some serious knowledge.

anyway, last night Craig came by...i hadn't seen him all weekend and chalked it up to our being out a lot. Craig told me about this family he's close to and how he ended up spending the weekend there to help calm one of the family members down from a probably meth-induced rage. he stayed, played with the kids...let them know they were going to be protected...talked to his friend and tried to encourage her in the midst of the drama...all while being the calming influence for his friend in the rage. Craig walked up to this dude, he was madder than all get out, nose to nose with a family member, about 2.5 times Craig's size...and Craig just gave the dude a hug...and things began to calm...he totally disarmed this man with a hug

...so do me a favor...in honor of Craig...give someone a hug :)

alright, alright, sappy at the end, i know. but hey, i couldn't be happier about my neighbor...at the end of our chat, Mandy and Celina had come outside so we all just kinda madea quick circle and began to pray for this family and for Craig...and Craig prayed the most honest prayer asking the God would be there and help him and this family.


i like this neighbor...