As I sit down to write this article, a sense of guilt overcomes me. That’s because I don’t believe I’ve been a very welcoming neighbor. There’s a new family that moved reasonably close to my house, and although I’ve waved a friendly “hello” while driving by, I really have not modeled what a welcoming neighbor should be.

Somehow it is difficult for me to take the time to spend time with my neighbors. With a busy family, involvements in church, school, school boards, work and maintaining our home, my new neighbors have simply slipped through the cracks.

Well, I am now convinced that even though they moved in a couple of months ago, I still need to make a quick intentional visit to our newest neighbor. I need to introduce myself and leave a 3 X 5 card with the names of our family members and our phone number.

Since it is much more “neighborly” to bring something good to eat along, I’m going to take over a batch of my favorite quick, but delicious cinnamon bread that’s made using FROZEN BREAD DOUGH. I’m also passing the recipe  and acrobat reader download along to you so you can share it with one of your newest neighbors. You’ll never believe how easy it is!

Look for many more quick and easy ways to be a welcoming neighbor in future issues of the newsletter. There’s hope for us yet!

And by the way, I’m eager for this column to be a way for you to share your great ideas too! Once our web site is launched, you’ll find it’s easy to submit your great thoughts. In the meantime, however, e-mail us to share your ideas with us. I hope to hear from you soon.