October 8, 2025

“VROOOOOOOOMMMMMMM…”

I roll over in bed, grab a pillow, and stuff it over my ears. I’ve been waking up to the sound of that leafblower every day this week at 6:30AM sharp.

My next-door neighbor is obsessed with keeping his tiny square of front lawn perfect, and almost every morning, he brings out his leafblower to keep it neat. I’ve tried to politely hint to him to wait to run the leaf blower until later in the day, but his memory seems to be short.

After a few minutes of unsuccessfully trying to muffle the sound with the pillow, I get up and start to get dressed. After eating a hurried breakfast, I walk out the front door and onto my driveway. The cool, gray morning light and the mist in the air hint at the coming of autumn. I hear a bird’s song coming from the apple tree in my neighbor’s yard. That and the sweet, sweet silence.

But it’s interrupted by a sound like a thousand pebbles in a washing machine on spin cycle, followed by an engine that sounds like it’s whining about doing it’s job:

“VROOOOOMMMM….” 

The neighbor, who’s corralling about three runaway leaves on his driveway, turns to me and shouts good morning. I’m tempted to quote Proverbs 27:14: “If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.” But instead, I wave at him as I get into my car.

As I drive to work, I think of my other neighbors: the woman to the left of me who yells at passersby who step on her lawn, the guy across the street that uses my parking space, the family down the block with the piles of trash in their front yard that refuse to talk to anyone. I think enviously of my friend who lives in the kind of neighborhood where the neighbors pick up packages for each other, have block parties, and probably share Christmas cookies.

But then, a verse from the devotional I read last night pops in my head:

“If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20)

“God, I’m so sorry for not seeing my neighbors like you see them. Please, help me to love them all like you do,” I pray.

After a long day at work, I say another prayer for my neighbors as I drive home. As I pull into the driveway, I see my neighbor, minus the leafblower, sitting on a lawn chair in the middle of his spotless driveway. As some other neighbors walk by, he gets a look on his face I haven’t noticed there before, an almost hopeful look that fades quickly when they pass by without a word.

I park my car and stroll over to his driveway. “Hey, how’s it going?” I ask. He looks up at me, wide-eyed, and then scurries away into the garage. “Oh.” I stand there awkwardly, not sure what to do. I guess I’ll just go home. But just as I turn to leave, my neighbor runs out of the garage with another lawn chair. “Care to join me?” he asks, setting it down next to his. I smile and sit down. “Your yard is looking nice.”

We are called to be God’s ambassadors on earth (2 Corinthians 5:20). So who is this God that we are supposed to be representatives for? John 3:16 beautifully encapsulates God’s amazing love:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

It’s so important to remember that you or I may be the only representative for Christ someone has in their life. This week, let’s practice reflecting God’s character and treating people with the kind of love He extends to us every day!

-Eutychus