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August 01, 2007 |
Lessons from the Mulch Pile
"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4
Have you ever walked through your neighborhood on a spring day and glanced inside other people's garages? Don't the contents look familiar? Don't they look remarkably similar to the contents of your own garage? I'm not suggesting that we all start forming communes, but couldn't we do a better job of sharing?
On a recent trip to do some teaching on the East Coast, I had dinner at the home of some new friends. In their yard stood a pile of mulch. A big pile of mulch. It turns out they had gone in on the purchase with their neighbor. In part, in was a money-saving idea since they split the cost of delivery. But it was also an opportunity to build a relationship with their neighbor--"an opportunity for us to meet at the fence, a chance to show that we're interested in him," they explained.
Are you planning any purchases that might enable you to "meet your neighbors at the fence?" Instead of every family buying its own swing set or inflatable pool, what if several families went in on such purchases together? We'd be certain to save some money, but we might just teach our kids (and ourselves) a little something about sharing as well. Instead of every gardener on the block renting their own rototiller to work on their vegetable patch, what if we rented one together and shared it? Here again, we'd save some money, but we might just make some new friends or deepen some existing friendships as well.
Have you ever split the cost of something with a neighbor? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Please write to me with the details. What did you buy together? What, if any, challenges did that create? And what were the benefits?
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