Of Sharing and Lilacs.

This seems to be the church outing of sharing. Let me explain. It started out with single young lady tenting in the camping area. She helped me move in. As we talked she told me of her uncertainty in stormy weather, so I loaned her an extra two-way radio so she could call me should the weather turned foul.


Tony has befriended a little eight-year-old guitar-playing girl I'll call Essie. She and her younger sister and older brother are just above us on the third floor. Her mom is a quiet, gentle soul who shares in a minority ministry with her husband. She saw how well the radio system worked and mentioned she wanted to invest in a set. Since I had brought a total of three sets of radios, I loaned her one complete set for her family to use.


This morning M (of M and Lee) knocked on my door. Her life and that of her family is been a complete whirlwind ever since Lee found work eight hours away. She asked if I had some extra milk. I gave her a quart. Soon she was back with a sheepish look on her face. Did I happen to have some extra soap and shampoo? I gladly loaned her mine. Soon there was one more knock on the door and a red-faced M standing there. "I can not find my blow dryer." She said. I could tell she was upset by her lack of organization. I pulled my small dryer out and handed it to her with a smile and a can of hair spray. She laughed and told me that hair spray was the one thing she did have.


I've also become a mother to the kids whose moms are in meetings, I'm a helper to those who need to take a break, I'm the one of whom other's say "DeeDee's mom will do it," or "Tony, do you think your mom could help...?" Most of the time I'm happy to say yes.


Because I need help too. When DeeDee made it to the bathroom but ended up having an accident all over me, I needed someone to run get my shower things so I could shower right away. When a distracted Tony misplaced my camera, I needed someone to take pictures of DeeDee's first concert.



In essence I share because I need someone to share with me.



But, what does say about the lilacs. Ah, the sweet essence of my favorite flower! There is a huge lilac bush growing just below our window. With our fan sucking in cool north wind into our room, the fragrance of lilacs comes in with it. Oh how sweet it is to walk into our room and smell these flowers. Especially when I've changed DeeDee's messy diaper just fifteen minutes before.