| Today was the "AppleFest" at my church. A fun event that the whole church can get involved in. There was face painting, a jump-house, plenty of food prepared by the United Methodist Men, dessert prepared by the Bazaar ladies, free popcorn, a "fishing" pool, and a few other things. Additionally, there was a clothing give-away. Admittedly not the best organized, but it happened. I put the word out, and people brought gently-used clothes to give away. Many people helped to sort, fold, and prepare the clothes for today - a few that I know about, and probably more that I don't know about. I was in and out of the clothes area periodically today to check on things, and each time I could tell a few more clothes were being taken. I had several church members ask me how things were going with the clothes, and I kept telling them "good" or "great". Truth be told, I think if one person left with some clothes, then it served its purpose. I had a woman tell me last Sunday that she would distribute any of the leftover clothes to Grand Avenue Temple and the Clay County Clothes Closet, and she had helped me with a previous clothing drive as well. She is but one of the few that played a key role today. And there was one other person as well. One of the times I went back in, one of the Bazaar women - Wanda - stopped me. She held out her hand, and gave me a dollar. It was not a crisp, new dollar bill, but a worn, crumpled one, that looked like it had seen better days. I turned it over in my hands, and I said, "What's this for?" And Wanda told me this -- she said that a young woman had gone upstairs to the clothing give-away. She had been up there awhile, and when she came back down, she had a jean-jacket over her arm. And she stopped at the Bazaar desk, and handed over the dollar to Wanda. Wanda told her that the clothing give-away was just that - a give-away, and that no money was necessary, and Wanda tried to give the dollar back. The young woman wouldn't hear of it, and pressed the dollar into Wanda's hand, I imagine with some insistence. Wanda took the dollar, and the young woman went on her way, with her jean-jacket over her arm. I said to someone the other day, you never know what someone else is going through. I have no idea what that young woman was going through. Perhaps she had been laid off recently, and she needed a break from her family for a bit. Maybe her husband had been called in to work today, and she was out on her own for awhile. Maybe her son had passed away recently, and the jean-jacket reminded her of him, and offered her some comfort. Whatever the reason, she felt the need to say "thanks" with a dollar bill. And not a crisp, new dollar bill - but a worn, crumpled one. Kinda like we all are, dontcha think? May God continue to be present in your life. I am continuallyseeking, just maybe not as often. :) |
