Laundry makes me grumble and complain. I found myself on Wednesday doing five huge loads of laundry....all day long. And I wasn't a happy camper about it. I was having a bad attitude. Does God ever wait a day or two after you've acted like a 2-year old, and bring something to surprise you and change your perspective back to one of gratitude? Well, that's what He did for me on Thursday at Cornerstone.
After our Bible Study with the ladies, we handed out some clothes and hygeine items. One of my favorite women, Bonita, always stays late to help us clean up. She wipes tables, cleans the floors, takes out the trash. She is a servant. But she also tends to ask often for money. Not much....just a few quarters for the bus....or like today, she just asked for change for a dollar so she could do a load of laudry. But come to find out, she didn't have the dollar with her. :) Pastor Chris at Cornerstone has asked us not to give money to the ladies. He just doesn't want to open up that can of worms, because one, you never know what they are really going to do with it; and two, it starts you down a never-ending road of asking for hand outs. So....usually we don't give out money.
Bonita realized that no one was going to give her any money, so she then began asking for a ride to her apartment to get the aforementioned dollar....and then a ride to a nearby store to get change for that dollar. Seriously. We're talking about 4 quarters here. Something we all have in our purses...or on the floorboard of our car. But this really meant something to her. None of the other volunteers could give her a ride....everyone had somewhere they needed to be. I actually had plans to run a few quick errands before my P.T. appointment at 1p, but then I just stopped and tried to see life from her eyes. "Sure, I'll give you a ride, Bonita."
So we hopped in my car and drove down the street to her apartment. She ran upstairs to get the "dollar". (At this point, I still wasn't sure there really was a dollar.) While she was gone, I checked my wallet to see if I had any quarters...I didn't. But I did have a couple of bucks. I know we're not supposed to give money, but really. She needed it for laundry. She returned, pearly whites gleeming, as she waved her treasure in the air. "I got it!" she exclaimed.
As we drove a couple more streets down to the local EZ Mart, bars on all windows and doors, and lots of meandering people just "hanging" in the parking lot, Bonita began to try and justify why she needed the dollar. "I just really need to do a load of laundry. All my undergarments are soiled...I haven't been able to wash clothes in over a week. I don't have enough to dry them, but that's ok. I can just hang them to dry." My heart sank. Can you imagine having to wear dirty underwear over and over? Man, we take so much for granted. As she opened the car door to run into the store, I handed her my two dollar bills and told her to get change for those as well. Her eyes just lit up, "Oh thank you! Now I'll be able to do a second load, and have money to dry them as well!"
She returned to the car a happy lady. I dropped her at the soup kitchen where she was going for lunch. She told me she loved me. I really love her too. And as I drove back north to the land of plenty, all I could think about was my terrible attitude yesterday while doing the laundry. We not only have plenty of changes of clothing, but we also have a nice washer and dryer right here in our house....just like most of you do. Thank you Lord for re-routing my day yesterday, for shaking up my plans, to teach me a lesson on perspective. We truly have so much to be thankful for. Even laundry.
Phillipians 2:14 "Do everything without complaining or arguing...so that you might shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of life."
Tag discovering lollipops....yum.
Isn't this hilarious? He loved the big slides.
And this big football! Made one 2 year old VERY happy...
Faith Anna wanted to pose by our neighbors' little landscaped area....funny, huh? She cracks me up. Well, the girl knows how to pick her setting.
Anticipation....
Tag couldn't wait any longer, so he just walked on up and tried to open the door.
Trick or treating in style.
Tag and his buddy down the street, Alex.
