While driving from Cochrane to Chestermere with members of the 2023 West Jackson Calgary team, the group was discussing what it looks like to prayer walk in a neighborhood where considerations are being made for a possible church plant. Kelly, the pastor of Tapestry Church, had provided guidance on specific observations to make as we asked God to open our eyes to view the area through His eyes. In efforts to provide a personal example, I shared a story from 2019 about the house with a Red Door and how God prompted me to consider praying for the family living inside this Calgary-area home.

The house with the Red Door first came to my attention on a GO Trip in May of 2019 with Union University as we prayer walked through a Tuscany neighborhood one afternoon. Because these residents had been on my mind, on a return trip with West Jackson in July, as I neared what I thought was the correct exit, I asked our van to assist me in finding that Red Door as we drove through the neighborhood. With neighborhoods of more than 10,000 homes, I was doubtful that we could locate the house, but after a few twists and turns, we found ourselves pulling up to the house with a Red Door.

Sharing this story to the group was an opportunity to explain how this Red Door experience allowed me to view my own neighborhood differently; to consider the people inside that I might not know as I walked our streets in the mornings. As we entered the streets on the south side of Chestermere Lake, our plan was to park the van at a playground, however, there was only street parking, so we continued around the block where we located the middle school’s wide-open, empty parking lot. Swinging the van into a random spot, we all looked up to find ourselves parked directly in front of a house with a Red Door! This occurred minutes after sharing the story from 2019. Once again God leaves me Respectfully Mystified!

As we briskly walked the streets of Chestermere in efforts to counteract the cold, biting wind, noticing various attributes of the homes, Madison drew our attention to a yellow–doored home, and then another; so, for our van, we now have an opportunity to pray for the families in homes with a yellow door and for the church planters who are called to that area. It should no longer amaze me that God provides unique and creative ways, like Red (or yellow) Doors, to allow a neighborhood to Stick in our minds. I don’t know about the rest of the crew, but from now on when I see a house with a Red (or yellow) Door, (and those who decorate windows with rolls of toilet paper)!  I will prayerfully consider the people’s lives who reside in that home and how God might speak to them in some way.

It’s easy in today’s culture to find ourselves so busy that it’s easy to miss out on opportunities to intentionally be a Good Neighbor to those we see on a regular basis, so how much harder is it to remember the families who live 2,000 miles away in an area we’ve visited once. I think God uses something as simple as a Red Door to remind us, that each time we see a door painted red, to pray for the residents in that home in Calgary. The people who live behind the Red Door may come and go, but it will always be an honor to pray for those residing under that roof, even if they decide to paint the door yellow!

If you’ve had a similar experience where God gave you a Nudge to notice something trivial but became something impactful, please consider sharing in the comments below.