I discovered myself on Saturday. Why Saturday?
It was food pantry day.
At the end of last year, our church entered a partnership
with the Point Church of Chapel Hill.
Together we run a food pantry sharing with families that need the
help. The pantry is open the first
Saturday morning of each month. When the
Coronavirus broke out in the United States and businesses started closing and
people were forced to stay home, we upped the frequency of the pantry to every
Saturday morning.
Just a couple weeks before this
happened, I had a major ankle surgery.
In my medical chart it’s described like this: “right ankle allograft
reconstruction of the ATFL, CFL, peroneus longus to brevis tendon transfer,
calcaneal exostectomy, ankle arthroscopy, debridement, and synovectomy
including large anterior distal tibial spur.”
What it meant was, for a couple of
weeks, I was non-weight bearing, so I had to use a knee scooter to get
around. I couldn’t drive and won’t be
able until sometime in May. Hopefully. In the long run, the surgery will undoubtedly
be good for me and will improve my quality of life. In the short run, my disabled condition left
me depressed. A lot of people deal with
much, much worse than what I have been through.
But, it had me down. With “social distancing” added to my already
limited state, I was feeling bad. My spirit
felt very low.
Since COVID-19 hit us, my family has volunteered every day
at a food distribution site where kids who rely on free school lunches are able
to get meals with school out because of the virus crisis. My family also volunteered at the church
food pantry every Saturday. I have been
unable to participate much in these endeavors
However, last Friday, a month after the surgery, my cast was
cut off and I was in a walking boot. So,
when it came time for the food pantry on Saturday, I was able to go. To maintain social distancing, we have all
the clients stay in their cars and we bring the groceries out to them. Volunteers did that.
What I did on Saturday was I walked down the line of cars
and greeted the drivers. I asked each
carload of people how they’re doing, dealing with quarantine and “stay-at-home”
orders. A few people didn’t really want
to talk much, but most were very happy to converse. They’re as cooped at home as I am. It felt so good to greet people.
I’ll tell you what it felt like, just a little bit. It felt like greeting people at church on
Sunday morning. How I have missed
that. Oh I’ve missed it so much. What I love most about ministry is
people. I was on a zoom call with
several pastors and I could tell they were feeling it too.
It’s Holy Week. We’re
used to being at the church building with the church people: Thursday night,
Friday night, Sunday morning for the sunrise service and then the 11 AM
service. God designed me to be with
people. I have always known that. Meeting all those folks at the food pantry
helped me rediscover who I am.
What about you? Do
you need to look deep inside and rediscover who you are? Obviously, we won’t be together for Easter,
not in person anyway. And I will miss it
and feel a little bit sad. But, the
reality of Jesus, risen from the grave, is much bigger in defining who I am and
who you are. We walk in joy. We are in the world, but apart from the
world. We have hope. Why?
Because he lives.
If you’re going through a tough time, let me know. I’d love to pray for you. If we talk on the phone, I can pray with
you. If I don’t get a chance to talk
with you, that’s OK. You don’t need
me. You need the same thing I need, and
we have it. We have Jesus. He tells us who we are. That’s the most important discovery.
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