The Couple Side

We finally met all our immediate neighbors.  By immediate, I mean the neighbors living in the three apartments closest to ours.  There are couples living in each, so I'm going to call our side of the apartment building "The Couple Side."  Let me give you some first impressions of the Couple Side residents.

Our most immediate neighbors, namely the ones living behind the door that's one foot from ours are J and M.  They've been married since February, so we've already found common ground with them talking about newly-married life and the fact that J graduated from Mines!  I wish I knew the names of their two small dogs.  Dog 1 is a light-colored chihuahua thing (this is probably inaccurate), and dog 2 is similar in breed but with black hair.  We've seen those two dogs being walked more times than I can count, so clearly J and M have a commitment to being good owners.

Yesterday, we met N.  N and his girlfriend, A, live in the apartment right below ours, and their balcony is like a functional greenhouse.  Since moving in I've found the plant-life draping from their porch beautiful and abundant.  As Ashley and I were on our way out of the complex for date night last night, we passed poor N, locked out of his apartment yet smiling happily.  He's an art major, and he'd allowed some other artists to stay at their house overnight, then came home to find they'd left without remembering to return the key.  We're hoping to have them over for dinner sometime.

The last apartment on the Couple Side will be affectionately dubbed "Party Central."  This dating couple has apparently lived here for several years (according to N) and built up quite the collection of loud music and empty beer cans.  Ashley and I often have to remind ourselves that our goal is not to get them to turn down the music, but to help them know the love of Christ.  Surprisingly, I've had quite a few short conversations with them as they've sat on their balcony.  Usually, our deep conversations go something like:

"How's it going?"
"Great!  How're you doing?"
" Real good."
"Awesome.  Later!"
"Later."

Now that you're in the know, please be in prayer for us.  We are tempted to come home in the evenings and hole ourselves into our apartment, cut off from the neighbors around us.  But, we really want more than that.  Our hope is to develop relationships with all of our neighbors and have lasting connections.  Maybe we can even bless them and talk about God's love and grace.

Thanks for reading!  I'll keep you updated about the Couple Side.

I wonder if N ever got in...