My neighbor, Mike, went to be with the Lord this week. Many knew him as
restaurateur whose business had a long tradition in this community. But for me, his greatest
identity in my life is neighbor. Many years ago, he and his wife
Peggy Sue taught me something important.
After raising their kids in a home on our street, Mike and Peggy Sue,
for reasons that seemed good at the time sold their house and downsized. They
cleaned out their attic and twenty-five years of memories and moved to the
other side of town.
The people that bought their home used it as a second residence and
were hardly ever there. The house stayed dark most of the time.
Though I never spent a lot of time with Mike and Peggy Sue, I missed them―especially
at Christmas. Their Christmas décor was always beautiful and now, no one even put a bow on the mailbox.
But after many months, we received wonderful news. Mike and Peggy Sue had
bought their old house back.
Jerry and I cried when we found out. Our friends were coming home.
Before moving back in, there was a great deal of buzzing about with carpenters
and painters. As I took my daily walks, I slowed down to catch a glimpse of any
new developments.
The most dramatic change was something that took me a while to
understand. Perhaps, it was because the house seemed so dark the months they
had been away, but after they moved in, the house always seemed aglow, every
room spilling light into the street. I’d walk by their house, come back home,
walk through the door, and ask my family, “Does it seem dark in here to you?”
I love light. I have big windows with no window coverings because I
want the sun to shine trough. But at night, I noticed how not replacing a couple
of lamps that had been broken made our family room dark.
I bought six lamps in the weeks after Mike and Peggy Sue moved back.
I observed my neighbors placed lamps strategically so a lamp shone in
most of the windows. This not only provided light for the room but also made
the house brighter from the outside. It made me reflect on this verse. “No one
lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it
on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light” (Luke 8:16).
I believe that within this scripture lies the secret of Mike and Peggy Sue’s lighting success.
I believe that within this scripture lies the secret of Mike and Peggy Sue’s lighting success.
Sometimes, for various reasons―fear,
or low self-esteem, folks with amazing gifts from the Lord do not find a place of service. They relegate themselves
to the corners of the kingdom preferring the safety of anonymity rather than
risking failure, their lights hardly casting a shadow. I know I have had to
deal with this myself. When we do this, we take the gospel with us to these safe
places, hiding it, instead of risking putting it out for everyone to see.
Also, until Mike and Peggy Sue moved back, I didn’t know how dark my
house had become. In a like manner, until we know the light that is Jesus, our
darkness can seem as light. When Jesus comes with His pervasive and powerful light,
we're astounded by His
presence and love. He said, “I have come into the world as a light, so
that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46)
Today, because Mike gave his life to the Lord, he is in the very presence
of that light that is Jesus and the lamps in his windows here wouldn’t begin to
match the intensity of what he experiences now.
We’re really going to miss Mike on our street, and I will always be grateful for what he and Peggy Sue taught me about light and The Light.
that no matter where we are— even on
Seventh Avenue—God wants to use us for His glory.”
Nancy Stafford
Actress (“Matlock”), Speaker, and Author