It has been three weeks since Greg and I moved into our new condo in the center of town.  Moving from a large home on acreage to a condo has been a real adventure, as we had all the privacy we could ever want prior to moving here. But, living in this new setting has a charm all its own and we are thoroughly enjoying it!

We are living in “on-going community” on a day to day basis now, rubbing shoulders with neighbors in the garage, elevator, and hallways. However, we have on particular neighbor who lives in the condo next door……..! When we moved in we noticed a large bird-feeder in his little yard, surrounding the bird-feeder was the mess left by the birds.  Within 24 hours of living here I watched as the neighbor living above his unit threw a large object to knock the bird-feeder down, by the afternoon a new “Fort Knox” bird-feeder had been constructed and we knew the battle was on.  Before the sun went down the new bird-feeder had been knocked down.

We received an email notice a day later expressing that there was a new rule against bird-feeders because they were such a mess, the management team hoped we would all be compliant.  As Greg and I grabbed a quick dinner on our little deck that night we saw that the man in the condo next door was simply putting piles of bird-seed on the ground now which was calling more birds to “come and dine” than ever before.

I took the time to inquire about our neighbor from our property manager and she told us that “he was the meanest man in the building”.    Greg and I knew that God had placed us right next to him for a purpose. At dinnertime the next evening the man in the condo next door came out and proceeded to share his life story with us for the next hour.  What we learned is that he had been a leading businessman and defined himself by his achievement but not by who he was. He never succeeded at marriage nor did he take the time to have a family. The past 8 years were filled with the challenges of 4 heart attacks that caused him to have to leave the wheeling and dealing of Energy Trading in order to survive.

In the condo next door sits a man who is alone. Very alone. And the Lord has whispered to our hearts” Love this one for me.”  And so we shall.

And , by the way, I just saw him throw a fresh batch of birdseed on the ground…………………………….