Cruising through Covid-19

What’s God leading you to do in the time of Covid-19? For me, God lead me through a bad traffic decision.  

I was cruising along not thinking much, just listening to the radio. Suddenly I realized was in the wrong lane.  I wanted to turn right and yet was in the left lane.  Too late I put on my blinker. Glancing back, I saw that another car was trailing too close and that I couldn’t safely change lanes and thus make the right turn.

“I’ll go around the block,” I thought to myself.  Of course, the block was longer than I expected and I soon realized I would be driving by one of my favorite charities, Hope House.  “I wonder if Jan and Bruce are there?” I asked myself. The leaders were personal friends of mine.

Indeed, I saw their car in the driveway.  Seeing Jan in the backyard,  I pulled in behind their car and hopped out.  On the spur of the moment I hollered, “Hi! Hey, Jan!  Could you use 40 pounds of potatoes?” I was on the way back from a potato farm nearby.

She came over, wearing a mask and all, and said they’d gladly accept the potatoes for the weekly food distribution - one that now takes place out of doors and with 6 foot distancing between clients.  

“Usually our immigrant friends make up the majority of the food distribution clientele,” she explained, “but last week it was mostly neighbors from up and down the street.  Before we pass out food, Bruce stands on the front steps and shares a short thought from the Bible and prays.  You can almost see God softening hearts right in front of you.”

The two sacks of potatoes in my car were meant for me and a family friend.  Instead I left her with the 40 lbs. of potatoes, which I had purchased directly from the farmer for a bargain price. 

Now that I understand how badly the folks in this lower income neighborhood are hurting, I will go back to the farmer, and purchase double as much to take to Hope House before Wednesday.  It won’t set me back much, and the hungry will have a little extra in their larder.

Are there hungry people in your neighborhood?  Maybe there is something you can do about it. Do you know healthcare workers and first responders who need masks? You could sew some, like one of my friends is doing. How about the lonely elderly?  I heard of a virtual friendship program for folks in long-term care. Get creative!  Certainly there is something you can do! If nothing else, reach for the phone and call someone who lives alone!

I hadn’t planned on helping.  A wrong turn helped me do the right thing.  How about you?