Family

It is Thursday morning. Yesterday was very, very busy and I didn't make it home in time to write before my fatigue overwhelmed me. Perhaps I needed more time to reflect on the day also.

I missed the sermon yesterday at Haywood Street, but Judy and Karla summarized it for me as being about "family" as personified in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The church is family also. I look forward to listening to Brian's sermon on-line.

I spent the majority of my hours at Haywood Street in the Clothes Closet. What a great group of companions! Phyllis and the ladies, Judy and Karla, from Mars Hill were there, Marie from Waynesville was there, and Lora and her little girl, Kimora, were there. Nicole from South Asheville rounded out the group. Mary, one of our companions from several weeks ago, stopped by. She looked great, new haircut, smile on her face, life is getting back to something like normal for her and her husband since their long distance move. The children's corner was full, a nice difference. Often the pickings are slight there, but there have been lots of donations. Yesterday it was the men's department that needed to be restocked and we had lots of men who are volunteers in the kitchen or upstairs at the service who brought in great finds for the men's department. God provided.

During a quiet period when most of the companions were eating, one of the people I met several weeks ago came in to look at the clothes. She said something interesting that I need to remember. She said that everything was taken away from her, but that God was returning the things she really needed. I know she was a professional who lost her job and then her home due to the economy. Since she is an architect, losing her home was big. I didn't get to talk to her for long, but it was very important to hear how her faith walk had provided. From what she has said previously, she was not a woman of faith before and she has been fascinated to see how the present has unfolded. For her it has been an adventure. I don't think she has children. I think adventures are scarier for mothers perhaps, but then should it be?

I sat with my friend from Candler UMC and her 5th grade daughter at lunch. She and Nicole were my luncheon buddies. Molly, the 5th grader, had just graduated from elementary school and had tied with her best friend for the math award. She said she liked the game playing that they did in math to learn. Yes, children used to learn a lot of math at home playing Parchesi and measuring while they cooked or sewed or built something with their parents. Now it is all left to school, so little time to play games or do things with parents. I was glad to hear she enjoyed the fun part of math. Her favorite part of school, however, was D.A.R.E. They had a female D.A.R.E. officer who was great at initiating role playing. Nice. Nicole could hear some of the conversation and recalled her aunt who was an elementary teacher.

After lunch we went to the service, but as it began, Brian asked who drove an Acura. I was embarrassed to raise my hand, but I was wanted in the parking lot. I felt badly when I saw what happened. A man who had come to lunch with his mother had pulled around my car and in an effort not to hit an SUV had scraped my car. The police officer who often comes to lunch saw it all and was writing it up when I arrived. I missed the entire service while the business part of the accident was taken care of. That made me sad. Also, the man who scraped my car had some sort of a leg problem, his right leg, and I think it may have affected his ability to handle his car. The police officer suggested I discuss with him handling it without his insurance. The man said he didn't have money. I told him we'd see what the repair would cost and then discuss it. However, as I was leaving, the police officer came over and said the man told him to tell me to call the insurance.

I went to Hendersonville to visit Shug and Bob after the service. They are not well. I stopped on the way out there and got an estimate for the repair. It was better than I thought, but still it is probably more than the man can afford. I thought about the way to handle this all the way to Hendersonville and back. I prayed about it which seemed very important. I pray all the time TO God, but I've been short on listening time. Lately, I've worked more on listening. I decided after talking with my insurance company to do as they suggested and call his insurer, report the claim, and wait and see what they said about handling it. When I got home, Ken and I discussed it and decided that was the best way to go. I await a call back about what they will do to handle the claim. What helped me decide is the thought that the man's inability to judge distances and navigate within a parking lot might have resulted in something worse if he had not been going so slowly or if my car had been moving. I worry that the man and his mother might lack transportation to come for lunch if his insurance goes up and he can't afford it, but perhaps I could pick them up instead of his driving should that become a problem.

This is a dilemma I had not reckoned with before. I suppose, however, in an effort to hold "family" accountable, one should do as they ask. Does that make us equal? I know God loves us all the same, well, as much as one another. This is one of those Thomas Merton times when I hope that God is happy with me because I want to do what He would have me do. Whether or not I did it is another question.