Tears - Of Joy and Sadness
It has been weeks since my last blog, so please bear with the length of this one. It's the why behind what we do, and the joy and heartache that go with it.
My husband, Shawn, shared at our church today the heart of what Robin Good is all about. Knowing that we ourselves are ever in need of God's unmerited grace, we go downtown each Saturday to share the kindness of the Lord to our friends living in very hard circumstances. We do not have all the right words to say, we cannot fix most of their problems, nor can we change their circumstances. But we can be there. We can show up and show kindness. We can pray for them and with them. We can bring nice, practical things they can use, or even a stuffed animal to keep them from feeling so lonely. We can show them we care and let them know how much we look forward to seeing them each week.
One of our PV friends, D., used to limp out to see us when he still had both of his legs, and only his toes were missing on the left one. That was until he had to have up to his knee amputated. We got him a wheelchair, but we could not take away the diabetes taking his leg or heal the infections his incision kept getting. So, we would just go to his apartment and sit and visit him and pray over him before we left. Then, some friends he grew up with in South Carolina invited him to live with them. We prayed together about God clearing the way if it was meant to be. So, after his leg was completely healed and he got a prosthetic, he planned to move, Lord willing.
As it would turn out, Shawn and I skipped going to PV November 20th to visit friends we knew from other communities we used to go to. The following week, the 27th, we went to D.'s to find out he already moved! I was so bummed we didn't get to say goodbye! He did not have our phone numbers, so he had no way to tell us. I later recalled that months prior, I had put his number in a Note in my phone. So, I texted it saying we were so happy he moved but sad we did not get to say goodbye, and that we wished him well. And got no reply. I figured I must have recorded the number incorrectly or it was no longer valid. Thankfully, we still got to see many of our other friends that day.
Then, on our way home from PV yesterday, a week later, I got a call from an unrecognized number. Listening to the voicemail, I heard, "Holly, this is the big man..." It was D.! I was so happy! I called him back instantly and put him on speaker phone so Shawn could say hi, too. He is very happy there and thanked us for always coming to see him and for praying for him. He said every week he looked forward to our visits and that our prayers meant so much to him. Then, he said some of his South Carolina friends are not Christians, and now he is praying for them! And he and his roommate from PV, also a Christian, still talk twice a week. It is just so beautiful and amazing to see what God does when all we do is care and pray!
Sadly, though, Ms. B., an amazing Christian woman (Shawn mentioned her at church when he showed a photo of some of our friends), texted me today to tell me some very sad news about our friend Ms. C., whose real name is Ms. Cynthia. Ms. Cynthia, in her 60's, would drive her motorized wheelchair to come see us each week and help set stuff on the table we'd bring. When she no longer had the wheelchair (I cannot recall why), she would hobble over with her walker. I was always so glad to see her and would give her a great big hug. She would tell me she loved me and that she missed us whenever she did not get to see us. She told me that again when I saw her last week after us not coming to PV the week before. We did not see her yesterday, though, which we figured was because of the rain.
This morning, Ms. Cynthia was found dead in her apartment. Ms. B said people are saying that last night she was doing a lot of sweating. She may have called her care giver (possibly through the program she was in) about it, because the people Ms. B. talked to said the care giver was supposed to call Ms. Cynthia this morning. When Ms. Cynthia did not answer, the care giver sent the police and an ambulance who got in through her window and found her dead.
Why would I share these sad details? For one, I am heartbroken. Ms. Cynthia was so precious, and I genuinely loved this lady. But two, if Shawn or I were having symptoms we were concerned about, we would not need to wait for a care giver from a program to check on us. We would simply go to urgent care or ER. Ms. Cynthia, as with most of our downtown friends, did not have that luxury. She may not have even known what symptoms of a heart attack were to recognize if that was what she was having.
She will be missed, and P.V. won't be the same without her. She also is the third person we know at PV who has died recently. Luke fell and hit his head, Timothy was murdered, and now Ms. Cynthia, presumably from a heart attack. Sharing the Gospel and showing God's love and grace is truly the need of the hour. Every hour. Every day.
Yes, Robin Good is about sharing nice (like new, no rips, no stains, etc.) clothing, linens, and household items. But it is so much more than that. The stuff we bring helps us to connect with the PV residents and meets basic needs. And the long-term consistency of showing up each week helps us build friendships that, Lord willing, open the door for us to share about God's love and grace. Isn't that what we all need?
Holly