On a more serious note...

I teach a group of adult ladies in Sunday school each Sunday. There are around 25 members in the class and we run about 18-20 each Sunday. When I first started teaching this class a couple of years ago there was one lady that came sporadically. She is about my mothers’ age, and is a very striking woman with a butch peppered gray haircut. She scared me to death when she came. She is a true “Maxine” and has no problem saying what she thinks in an assertive, finger pointing, gruff kind of way. Honestly, I avoided her at all cost. Then one Sunday I found out that her son had died about 5 years ago. I softened and wasn’t quite so scared. Then this past summer her daughter died and now it is just her and her husband. It was then that I reached out to her to try in some feeble way to try to comfort her, to give her words of encouragement. Since then I have gotten to know her little by little. What I have found out is that we are kindred spirits! She makes me laugh and she makes me cry. She is trying to deal with her life right now, I don’t have any answers for her and I don’t try to give her any. I just pray for her daily and give her lots of hugs and encouragement. When I found out that she also collects “Maxine” stuff I went through my collection and picked out two pieces to give her. I was so excited to give her the pieces. They weren’t unique or anything, just duplicates I had. When I got to church that Sunday, she had also picked out one of her collection to give me. I was blown away by her generosity. She gave me a numbered collector’s piece. I treasure it! It sits on my desk right under my monitor to remind me of this special friend that God has put in my life.
Last Thursday night we had our Christmas party and in true fashion she was “grumpy” about it, said she wouldn’t come, didn’t like Christmas because of all the commercialism and probably this year, Christmas without her beloved daughter. Well, she was one of the first to arrive. She told us her husband told her to get out of the house and do something fun. After dinner the ten of us sat around visiting and she spoke up and said, “I don’t know what to do”. It seems another class member calls her at least once a week to “cheer her up”. She knows that the lady’s intentions are good and she wouldn’t hurt her feelings for the world but the calls leave her more depressed than ever. There was a lot of chatter around the table and I just sat there listening and thinking. Finally, I said you know what you ought to do? Next Sunday when we have our prayer requests and praise time you should tell us that you are doing well and that you had a great week. She frowned, pointed her finger at me and said, “I can’t lie!” I said, “Well, think about it, I’m sure you have moments that are better and times when you can laugh and don’t hurt quite as much. That’s okay! Maybe if she thinks you are moving forward then she won’t feel the need to call you as frequently. Just think about it.”

So that brings me to today. At the end of the class she broke in and said, “I just want to say one thing. I had a really good time at the party Thursday night; it was a lot of fun, good food and laughter.” I and the others told her that we were happy that her husband had kicked her out of the house.

She is a precious new friend. She can come across a little gruff, but she has a heart of gold. I was so proud of her and hope the phone calls stop.
You see, she is doing great! Yes, she still misses her children, yes, she still asks God why, yes she is still hurting. But, I think the difference here is that she isn’t blaming God, she is just trying to accept her “story” God has planned for her. Perfectly, no, but none of us can do that. The only one that can do that died on the cross for our sins many years ago and it is because of God’s love for us and manifested through His Son that we can even begin to try.