Obedience and a weight lifted

In the last month or so, our church has been studying "discipleship". What it means to be a disciple, how to equip our members to be disciples etc, etc. It has affected me in a way that I can't quite put into words. I feel that I am just now, at the age of 42, beginning to realize what being a Christian means, and I feel like it is only the tip of the iceberg. I was having lunch with friends the other day, and one of them mentioned that she was trying to figure out how to apply this on a personal level. How was she going to change herself first. Which made me think about the same thing. What specifically could I do in my little sphere of influence to start down the road of discipleship? (Neighbors, school, work etc) Well, the first thing that came to mind was the fact that there is a specific action that the Holy Spirit has been prompting me to do for a couple of years now and I have completely ignored it simply because "I didn't want to". See, we have these neighbors that moved in about 3yrs ago, directly across the street from us. It was apparent from the get-go that they were from a different culture just by the way they kept their yard and the weird little decorations that they put out. Also, right after they moved in, Barrett went over there selling something for his school and when he came back home he said they didn't speak English. (but, he's been known to exaggerate OR they could have been faking so they wouldn't have to buy anything :) I'll have to remember that next time a solicitor comes to the door :) ...kidding) Anyway, it seemed like every time they were out in the yard, if we came out, they would go scuttling into the house. I wanted to say "We don't bite, you know!" All of this to say that, to say the least, there were not good vibes between us and our neighbors. Even so, every year when our church would have "Friends Day" and they would tell everyone to invite their neighbors I would feel the aforementioned Spirit prompting. But, I told myself (and God) there was no way I was going over there, they were mean and unfriendly and probably didn't even speak English. At each and every prompting (and there were many) I said "NO!" Well, then this discipleship thing comes up in addition to my BSF study where I am learning that there is no higher calling on a Christian's life than to bring the gospel to the people that don't know it. So, I finally respond to the Spirit's call and baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies and wrote out a note saying that I was sorry for being a bad neighbor, told them our names and said that if they ever needed us to pick up their paper, water their plants or whatever to just let us know and ended the note by saying "I pray God's blessings on your family." Wrapped it all up and started walking over there, the whole time praying, "OK God, is this really what you want me do? because I'm in the street now, I'm in their driveway now...." I don't know why I was so terrified but I was.Well, they weren't home, so I left the little package on the front porch. Within an hour, I kid you not, she called me to thank me for the cookies, told me their names and a little bit about them. As it turns out, she speaks perfect English, but I think they must originally be from India. We actually have quite a bit in common.She works part-time, like me. She has 2 children, like me. One of them is a 3rd grader at Woodlands and the other son is 18, disabled, and attends special ed. It was a great visit, she was so sweet. When I hung up the phone, I just collapsed on the chair crying, ashamed that it taken me so long to be obedient and receive this blessing. I could almost hear God saying "See, I told you they were nice." I felt like a huge weight had been lifted. I guess I didn't realize how much this little conflict was bothering me. I also realized that they probably felt isolated living in a different culture and having a son with a disability. I hope this is the beginning of a friendship.

I know that when you respond to the Spirit's prompting you don't always get to see immediate blessings, but in this case God did bless me immediately. I am still awestruck.