LENTEN HOPE

LENTEN SEASON, JUMC, Jamestown, NC

The worst thing is never the last thing

As I was preparing to drive to our weekly mission for elementary students where I volunteer each Monday afternoon, I was wondering if my time and efforts were making any difference at all.  We had been having informal conversations about how to keep the kids settled down so that we could actually make a difference in their lives by mentoring and sending them home with a hot dinner.  Maybe our presence meant nothing at all.

Our leader started the free after school program with a singing rehearsal to prepare the students for a short program this Lenten Sunday at our church.  I sat at an empty table across from them and watched them sing.  Then a small third grade girl slipped up beside me and softly asked if she could talk to someone.  I noticed that she seemed distressed as her head was bowed.  I looked down and said “Of course, what’s the matter”, not really expecting anything too troubling.  She put her small arms around me and whispered something so soft with the singing in the background that I couldn’t understand her.  I leaned down to make eye contact with her teared-up eyes and saw the grieving tears slowly trail down her cheeks.  She ever so slightly raised her voice and said, “My grandmother died yesterday.”

I was totally caught off guard and could only reply “Oh, I’m so sorry.”  We just stood there as the other children continued their rehearsal and hugged for a minute.  Two other helpers comforted the girl and then I directed her over to an empty table and let her pour out her pent-up emotions before I spoke again.  It occurred to me that she may have just come to the realization that she would never see her grandmother again and that they must have had a very loving relationship.

I mentioned to the little girl that both of my grandmothers had died, but I knew they were safe and happy in God’s heaven.  And I was certain that they were OK and even sometimes watching over me too.  That finally seemed to provide some hope and reassurance that everything would eventually get better.  When the singing was finished and an activity time had begun, two of the other children asked what was wrong and to their credit, immediately invited the little girl to join them.  Soon she was smiling again.

Defeating death on that Black Friday afternoon over two thousand years ago and rising from the empty tomb is the great hope for all mankind.  That eternal truth once more revealed itself to me through the tearful eyes of a young child this Lenten season.  And I knew that I had made a difference today.