National Night Out

Since we've lived at our house, we have never, not once made it to a National Night Out.  Not because we lack a sense of community, and not because we hate free hot dogs, but because they are, without a doubt, always on a Tuesday night.  And for the past 7 or 8 years at 7pm we have loaded up the car and headed to church for our small group Bible study. We love our small group and our years together learning about God's Word and while some things have changed, the one thing that has remained the same is the day and the time.  Tuesday, 7pm.

Lo and behold, this year, the fun family night would start at 6pm so we Wards were able to take part in the free hot dogs, the sno cones, the jump house and the open pool (though we didn't swim) for one hour.  It wasn't quite enough time for the kids to find forever neighborhood friends, but at least we got to chat with a few new people. 

And this is a big deal to me.  One I have fretted about a lot.  Since we drive 20-25 minutes to school and the kids' friends are mostly from church who live all around Pearland or from school who live all around the south Houston area, the one thing we have always lacked is the friend next door or around the corner.  Don't get me wrong, we have great neighbors and they love our kids, but they aren't 4 or 6 or 8-years-old.

I wouldn't trade their education at LSA, but it's always tough to see the Silverlake bus pick up and drop off knowing that if Elijah and Lydia were on it, they may be able to find that girl or that boy.   So what do I do?  Anytime I see kids at the park or on a walk that may be in their general age bracket, I encourage them (a bit pushy) to go introduce themselves.  They rarely do, unless I come with them (Lydia).  They are so shy.  And they are really happy with the friends they have.  They don't know what they may be missing.  They don't know about my elementary years living on 14th street and how fun it was to have Cathy and Lisa around the corner at my beck and call.  They are fine with a short drive to pick up a friend.  And on most days, I don't mind either.  On most days, I feel blessed that Elijah, Lydia and Lanie have solid friendships who have parents that I like, that I trust and that have similar values.  But there are some days when I don't want to go to that much work, when I don't want to plan a play date, when I just want to boot them out the door to explore with a friend.

Finally, after a few years of praying about this neighborhood and how we fit in, God is blessing us with some new opportunities.  Last night, Elijah played football at the park with a boy his age that he didn't know.  Yea.  And Lydia ran around the corner to play with a girl we've known and waved at for years, but have never taken the time to get to know.  And this summer a family from California moved in just 4 houses down with 3 kids ages 7, 4, and 2.  And they are nice.  And they are fun.  And they have good kids. And they make home-made ice cream.  They are just the family we needed.  The kind you're happy to hang out with over a sno-cone at National Night Out.  (Even if it was just for an hour.)