October 2007
Hello, my friends!
How well do we know the people around us? What tragedies lie behind the eyes that we have no nothing about?
Last weekend I was part of a Missions Conference at Midway Macedonia Baptist Church in W. Georgia. One of my partners had set up two outreach events in the area and I came down to help the team. The group gathered together to listen as I shared the game plan for reaching the community. We had a brief prayer time and then went out knocking on doors and inviting the residents to the block party. I believe that true leaders lead from the front. People usually learn from examples better than just telling them what to do. I went from person to person shaking hands, telling them who I was and sharing how glad we were that they were there. I saw an elderly lady sitting by herself at one of the picnic tables. I came over to her and said, "Hi, my name's Tim, what's yours?"
"Anna," her blue eyes sparkled in the sunshine. A little boy ran up to her. "And this is my grandson Stephen."
"Howdy, Steven," I said shaking his hand. "Want a hot dog?"
"Thanks!"
"Is he your grandson?"
"Yes," she smiled radiantly.
"He sure is cute. Have you lived here a long time?"
"About a year now. I came from Lilburn," she explained.
"Wow! I live in Lilburn too. Cool."
"I was taking care of my mother. She died last year."
"My mother in law just passed away two months ago. She lived at our house for about a year. It's a challenge taking care of the elderly."
"Indeed it is," Anna agreed. "I cared for my brother too. He was sick."
"So sorry to hear that. Is he better now?" I asked.
"No. He died about six months ago. He worked on computers and would stay up really late. One night he went out to go to the store. . . ." she paused, as if thinking how to explain what had happened. "Apparently, he had a stroke in the car. He crashed into a neighbor's house, his foot stomped down on the gas. The car caught on fire. . . . My neighbor called 911 and ran to wake me up. I rushed out of the house and saw him burning alive. I managed to open the door and drag him out of the front seat before the car exploded. The paramedics raced him to the hospital, but it was too late. He died from the fumes. He was born at Grady Hospital, and he died at Grady Hospital." She shook her head slowly thinking about the irony.
"I sure am sorry to hear about that, Anna. Was he a believer?"
"Oh, yes. We were both raised in the Baptist Church. I know he's with the Lord."
I squeezed her hand and nodded sympathetically. It was all I knew to do. Sometimes we're called to be heroes. Sometimes we're just called to listen. Pray for those around you. We don't know what they might have just been through.