Today I made it to church. Yay!

I had not planned to go, but when my friend Kelley dropped by this week with a pot of her signature Louisiana gumbo, she asked, “Will you be there this Sunday?”

"Uh, no."

“Why not?”

“It’s uncomfy, given my condition, to sit that long in straight, low-back chairs.”

“We could drag in a high-back chair from the reception area.”

I said I’d be in the way.

She said people could go around me. They’d see my sling and know I wasn’t trying to be a prima donna.

So I went.

We scooted a big chair into the sanctuary, and sure enough—people figured out how to get around me. Can you imagine? Sometimes they even stopped to deliver a gentle hug. And sitting in the big, cushioned chair, I made it through the hour without even needing any Tylenol.

It felt great to get out of the house for the first time post-op. The world looked a bit more colorful (Texas’s wee bit of fall has arrived) and gas prices had inched up only a few cents. But the best part was getting to worship with so many who have given, as always, far more than asked or required to help us in our time of need. I wept when I heard Kelley thank God for my presence there.

As if that weren't enough, the day got even better, thanks to Reiko. I’ve known Reiko for about seven years. A few years ago, she and her family moved to Japan, where she is from, but this summer they returned and bought the place six houses down the street from us. Their daughter and ours, now in the same class at school, love each other like sisters. So Reiko took her kids (her son is a second-grader) and my daughter, and off they went to buy stuff for our church’s Christmas box project.

We partner with a sister church, Iglesia Kerygma Bautista, in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and every year Kerygma tells us how many boxes they’ll need (usually around 250). Then our church of about 115 puts them together and sends down a team to join with Kerygma to distribute the boxes to Kerygma's kids and to families in their mission church.

What a joy to distribute boxes containing necessities (combs, toothbrushes, washcloths, toothpaste, soap) and toys (stuffed animals, pens, tops, compasses, calculators, etc.) to kids who have little or nothing, as many of our members have done. They have seen first-hand the gratitude from families, many with no running water, when they receive the boxes. (The girl in the photo above is our daughter's good friend from one such trip. They speak different languages, but no problem. They told us smiles are universal.)

So…about today…I had some cash set aside for this year’s project, but I can’t drive or carry anything, right? So Reiko offered to shop for us. I gave her the cash, and our friend Jeni gave her a 20%-off coupon, and off Reiko went with the kids (who added some of their own money) to help them learn how it’s better to give than to receive.

While they shopped at Dollar General and Big Lots, I dragged out (okay, I got Gary to drag out) the extra toys stored from last year’s leftover donations. When Reiko and the kids returned with supplies, we made a huge mess of it all in my living room.

At my sister’s birthday party in September, we spent a few minutes wrapping a stack of empty shoe boxes. So we had ten of those, plus one my niece dropped by yesterday, and Reiko brought three more of her own. We had boxes; we just needed goodies.

The kids and Reiko worked hard while I sat and drank it in, useless but delighted. The kids squealed as they imagined what this girl or that boy might like, and packed a box accordingly. Now next to my couch sit fourteen colorfully-wrapped boxes all finished, with enough stuff left over to hand out “starter” packets in gallon Zip-lock bags next Sunday for other box-assemblers.

Was it a coincidence that my Bible fell open this afternoon to the story about Jesus feeding 4,000 with a couple of loaves and fish?