It Sounds Like a Neighborhood

Have you ever stopped long enough to hear your neighborhood?

Some days my neighborhood is quiet. You will hear no cars, playing children, or mowers running. You can hear squirrels in the trees, birds chirping, and an occasional siren inside the Republic.

At other times, the neighborhood is filled with the sounds of barking dogs, cars rushing past, and the hum of lawnmowers and leaf blowers.

Sometimes the sounds I hear are children playing and laughing. Sometimes those sounds of joy transform into cries of pain from falling off the scooter and scraping the elbow or knee.

A few weeks ago, I heard many chainsaws in the neighborhood cutting up tree limbs after a storm.

Every community and neighborhood has unique sounds. What are the sounds that remind you of your neighborhood?

It is the sound of neighbors out on driveways talking and laughing together. Maybe that gathering happens around a basketball goal or some cornhole boards, or lawn chairs.

Sometimes the neighborhood sounds like neighbors helping remove fallen branches, helping an older neighbor mow a yard, or even helping with a car or house project.

Every Friday, my garage fills with the sound of a few men who gather at 6:30 a.m. for our "Secret Men's Club." We laugh, tell stories, study the Bible, and pray for each other.

Rural neighbors might say their neighborhood sounds like cows mooing, tractors baling hay and crickets chirping at night.

Some urban residents might say their neighborhood sounds include screaming, gunfire and loud arguments. Even sounds associated with negative events cause memories to spring up.

The point is, sounds can remind us of the good and bad parts of a neighborhood. But the most important sounds are those that relate to connection.

See, a neighborhood is about the connections, the relationships, and the sound that comes from providing places where people can come and feel safe to be themselves. A place where trust is built, and strangers become friends.

This week, I encourage you to step outside into the place you live and simply listen to the sounds of your neighborhood.

What does your neighborhood sound like?

What do you hope your neighborhood would sound like?

What can you do this week to make your neighborhood sound the way you hope it would?

This is also a good time to start planning ahead toward Missouri Good Neighbor Week (Sept. 28-Oct. 4). Check our website at missourigoodneighborweek.com and make your own plans.

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