Lawn Wars
Kim and his wife, Maria, and their three boys were moving to the U.S. from Australia. Because of the expense, they brought very little with them and depended on contacts in their new community to provide basic items they would need to settle into their new home. On moving day, several people brought furniture, kitchen appliances, and other necessities. Most of the items were loaded into pickup trucks and minivans; while they had the best intentions, a few of these well-meaning friends backed up onto the lawn of Kim’s neighbor instead of Kim’s driveway.
At about 9 p.m., Kim’s new neighbor kicked open his door and yelled, “Get off my F-ing lawn!” (Welcome to the neighborhood, huh?)
Kim is one of the kindest people you could ever meet, He loves Jesus and more than anything wanted to live out the B.L.E.S.S. practices in his new neighborhood. “While I was fearful of him, I also wanted to share the love of Jesus with my neighbor, so I just started praying for him,” Kim recalled. “His name was Stan. And every time I saw Stan I would wave and say, ‘Hello Stan.’ And he would reply by waving back with just one finger. Yes, his middle finger.” That went on for months, but he just kept praying for Stan and being as nice as he possibly could to him and his family.
Over time Kim and Maria became friends with Stan’s wife, Sarah, and their daughter, who was seriously ill, which meant lots of trips to doctors’ appointments. Kim and Maria shared with Sarah that their son was going through cancer treatments.
Eventually, Stan had his driveway sealcoated, so he had to park his car down the street and carry his daughter back and forth from it to their house when they went to the doctor. One evening Kim saw Stan carrying his daughter from the car and yelled across the yard, “Stan, why don’t you use my driveway?” Stan responded by asking, “Why don’t you have a car?!?”
Kim explained that it was currently broken down, leaving the driveway free for Stan’s use if he wanted it. For the first time, Stan softened.“Isn’t your son sick?” he asked. “Yes, he has cancer,” Kim said.
In that moment Stan—the mountain of a guy who just weeks before had wanted nothing to do with Kim—burst into tears! Kim had the opportunity to pray for him and his daughter. And that was the beginning of a friendship.
Later that winter after a significant snowfall, Kim heard what sounded like shoveling outside his front door. He looked out the window: there was Stan shoveling his driveway! Kim and his boys joined Stan outside and together, the four of them began to bless their entire neighborhood by shoveling all the driveways together. Stan is now Kim’s close friend.