Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. ~ Luke 5:31-32

Today I had a sad reminder of how often I fail to reach out to the “sick” around me. This morning our neighbor’s dog was loose, and I called the number on the tag to be sure it was theirs before putting it on their patio. When I called and talked to the husband, he told me she’s now his Ex. and that the dog was hers. Here we’ve been living right beside them, doors 5 ft. apart for 5 1/2 months, and I had no idea. I’ve only spoken to them a few times and hadn’t even noticed he was gone.

It made me realize how many opportunities I miss by not reaching out. The last 6 weeks I’ve been writing blog posts on how to save a marriage, when right next door I may have been able to help if I knew them better. Maybe not, but maybe.

A similar thing happened with our neighbors in OKC. We lived in our house 9 years and hardly even knew them by name. In the year before we sold our house, they both died even though they were just in their fifties. In the following months, the house was extremely neglected by their children, to the point that we had to call animal control because the dogs in the yard weren’t being feed. From what I learned from the obituary of the wife, they had three children in the OKC area. During the whole 9 years we lived there, I only saw one of the children visit once. I honestly don’t even know if they were Christians, though I presume not.

Maybe I could have helped there, too. Maybe not, but maybe.

How often do I pass up opportunities like these everyday? In the race to get everything done on my list and get us through another day, I often fail stop and see the people I rub elbows with daily.

Yes, it is great to give to causes. Yes, it is great to give to missionaries to help those people over there. But I’m beginning to see that it is even better to give of our time to those around us. We may not be able to do anything, but then again we might.