Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Dear God,

Your children come in all sizes, shapes, and colors.  They speak in different languages.  Last Friday I met one of your kids, an older woman with just a few teeth, a southern Arkansas drawl, and a heart as big as the ocean.

It had rained on our tent.  No, that's not quite right; it had rained through our tent. It was early and dark.  I heard it start raining but then noticed that the raindrops seemed very close.  I pulled my arm out of my warm and cozy sleeping bag and held out my palm.  Sure enough it was raining straight through the tent creating a rainfall inside the tent.  I cried out to my camping friend who recognized four bulging pocket corners where rain had collected and was threatening to collapse the tent.  In our pajamas we pushed up the four corners and then ran outside where the poles were falling.  All in all we were soaked.  We were able to save the tent but not the sleeping bags and many of our clothes.  So we made our way to a decaying laundromat.  It was there we met one of your own.

"I just love my job", she told us, "I've been here for 15 years."  Over the course of the next half hour she joked with us and told us how nice each owner had been.  She talked about teenagers who came in to tan themselves in the tanning booth and then returned to give her their prom pictures that were proudly displayed from top to bottom on her closet door.  She invited us in to see letters and pictures given to her by children whose parents are regulars in the laundromat.  She pointed to an old glass case with all sorts of trinkets and homemade items all gifts from children across the years of her service.  As we collected all our laundry, she walked us out into the misting rain.  She wished us a good weekend and invited us back to visit.  She waved as we drove away.

Sometimes I think you bring us into the company of particular people who teach us a lesson or give us an example of Christian life and practice.  Clearly, the cheerful worker at the Nashville laundromat filled that bill and blessed us on a cold, windy, rainy day.

Thank you
for friends
who reveal themselves
to us
in the journey
of life.
Thank you
for their messages
of hope,
faith, encouragement,
and love.
Thank you
for this lady
whose name
I have
sadly forgotten.
Bless her today,
I pray.

Love, Andrea