A few days ago there was a fierce midnight wind storm where our "country cottage" is located. It was a Tuesday night, and we weren't there, but the next day two neighbors called to say that big trees were down on our property, and there had been a fire.
I immediately took off cross-town to take a look, praying the Lord had spared our cottage. Two giant trees on our property and a neighbor's big cypress had been snapped off and were leaning down our driveway, suspended about eight feet from the ground by thick power cables. A small grass fire had erupted but was quickly put out by the fire department - called by our neighbors. The cottage was untouched; a direct answer to prayer.
The next day I found the trees sawn into chunks and the power restored. AND, a woman I had never met cleaning up the debris from OUR driveway. And she did it again the next day, working hard, wearing heavy gloves, and stacking the debris to the side of the driveway in bundles according to size. When I thanked her and told her we would take care of it, that it wasn't her problem, this woman, a grandmother, who weighs about 90 pounds, said she enjoyed the exercise.
It gets still better. The lady doesn't even live in South Carolina. She is an Asian-American, native Hawaiian who only comes to the mainland once a year to check on the house she owns! It was her cypress tree that had fallen onto our driveway and she felt responsible.
Good neighbor? You bet! Beyond numerous, heartfelt "Thank you's" there wasn't much else we could do. She would have been offended by payment and, besides, she said she liked the exercise.
The next night Lisa baked bread and we took it over to her as a small token of appreciation. She flies back to Honolulu tomorrow morning. I'll be she's a good neighbor there, too.
