Every year we make cookies for our neighbors and deliver them a week or so before Christmas. Paul and some of the kids took them around last weekend since we weren't sure when the new baby would be arriving and we did our baking earlier than usual this year.
Well, this afternoon, someone called and asked if we were the neighbors who brought the cookies around each year. "I've got something for your family. I'll be over in a few minutes." I had no idea which neighbor it was except that he was elderly from the sound of his voice. (We have a couple of older, widowed farmers around us)
It was Tony, a hermit-type of elderly man who lives a mile up the road. We see him every once in a while crossing the road to get his mail. It's obvious when you watch him walk that he has a hard time getting around, so we've done some anonymous snow shoveling and baking for him. In the years past, he's had a hand-written sign on his front door saying, "This house is boobie-trapped. Enter at the risk of losing an arm or leg." Last year, while delivering bread, the kids read the sign and came back to the car refusing to knock. I finally talked Caleb into knocking and, what do you know, he didn't lose either arm or leg.
Well, after calling, he showed up at our garage door with a 40 pound sack of groceries full of peanut butter, jelly, cookies, bread, cheese, and more. He even bought us a turkey! What a blessing to have such a thoughtful neighbor... and even more of a blessing to see the kids surprised faces. They got a tangible lesson in how God blesses you when you give without expecting anything in return. We even took the opportunity to pray that God would bless Tony for his kindness and help him to know Jesus if he doesn't.
Nathan took a liking to the 4 packages of cookies and tried to claim them as his own...
That's such a great story. Nice work Larson's!!
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