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We were living in an apartment.  Our son and daughter were in kindergarten and third grade and they were terrified of the four children that had moved in next door who seemed to delight in being destructive and obnoxious.  They pressed their noses against our living room window to stare at us.  The boys took the screen off their upstairs bedroom windows and peed out the window.  When we were on our patio they hosed us with water.  I felt helpless and prayed that God would MOVE them.  But my prayer was not answered.

The father shouted crude remarks to passing friends.  I heard the mother through the wall screaming at the kids, “I hate your guts and wish you’d never been born!” I was sickened and yet realized that without the Holy Spirit living in me, I could be capable of that kind of anger.  Still, my prayer was that God would move them AWAY.  It never occurred to me that they might be the answer to an earlier prayer that God would teach me to love people I find unlovable.

We went away for a few days on vacation and came back to find the landlord in our patio area cleaning off paint that these neighbor kids had splashed on the fence and concrete.  I was sure they would be evicted now.  But, no.

Finally, I started asking God how to get even with them and I gradually sensed He wanted me to do it His way, and reach out to the mother.  Honestly, I had never spoken to her.  We just gave a forced smile whenever we happened to pass each other on our shared walkway.  These were not people I wanted to know.  But responding to God’s nudging, when the kids were all in school, I invited this mother to come over for coffee.  She came, spilling over with her frustrations at trying to do a good job as a mother and overwhelmed by the constant interruptions and demands of family members and one particular neighbor. 

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