Thanksgiving With The Neighbor

Thanksgiving morning started off with our tradition of enjoying Mechelle's homemade Monkey Bread. Yum! After breakfast we started a new tradition. Here in Virginia there are Christmas tree farms all around. So instead of buying our tree from the Lions Club in the park in Okeechobee like we've done the last 10 years, we decided to go to the Glen Gary Tree Farm to cut our own fresh tree. When we got back to the house our neighbors were outside with friends they had invited over, but we noticed our neighbor across the street was by herself. Miss Lucy is in her eighties and was out bagging the leaves in her yard for her garden. While Becca and I took the tree in the house, Mechelle and Bryce walked across the street and invited Miss Lucy to have Thanksgiving Dinner with us. A few hours later, Joel, Dana, and the kids came over, then over came Miss Lucy. As we sat and talked with Miss Lucy while the turkey was frying, we learned a lot about her past. She grew up in a convent, had two husbands who both had passed away, and had three children who seldom came around. She had lived in the same house here in Culpeper for 25 years and had seen a lot of changes. Suprisingly she told us that when she lived in the convent she knew God but she didn't know Jesus. But the most suprising thing she told us was that in 25 years of living in the same house on the same street we were the first to invite her over for a meal. Imagine that! Someone could live in the same home for years and no one reach out to them. But, sadly that's the way it is for many. We felt honored to have Miss Lucy sit down at our table and share Thanksgiving with us.

Thanks to all of you who have been a part of sending us to reach the Miss Lucy's of Culpeper.

Duane