It was in the middle of a full week where emotions could easily run rampant. We had the opportunity to see how appreciating small things, and the grace of being unexpectedly prepared made a time of trouble a bit brighter. Where we discovered humor and baked good may just be a ticket to finding beauty.
We were two weeks out from the worst hurricane destruction we’ve seen 6 states up from the coast. Even though our area was spared, the knowledge of the devastation made our hearts ache. The weekend before our across the street neighbor, who was the brightest, most joyful grandma type, unexpectedly passed away. Another dear elder fell and broke her hip and had emergency hip replacement. It was a particularly tense time politically with much at stake in one of the oddest election cycles we’ve experienced in our lifetime. And finally, a bright spot, friends welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world after nearly two days of labor.
We three women had been fixing meals, attending a funeral along with Dad, praying, sending supplies with folks headed into the small towns, and trying to plan for a rearranging of our small apartment to give us better quality sleep and better health as a result. That Wednesday, a friend we had been trying to spend time with was able to come and spend the afternoon. When you have a friend who is truly down for doing life together, she’s a gem. We enjoyed some coffee together and chat, heard about new things we were each doing and the relief effort she and her husband were doing. It was balm.
Soon enough it was time to take the meal to the new mama as we had scheduled. So we all trooped off together, excited to see our friend and meet the new baby. After a short visit (it was dinnertime after all!), we headed back home. En route, another family friend phoned my mom. She decided to call back after we reached home, but when the friend’s daughter called my sister we were concerned something was up and she answered. Although the callee was almost unintelligible, it was quickly clear that there was some type of emergency regarding the mom in the family.
The first we could make out from hearing Christina was that it sounded like our friend suffered a heart attack. It sounded very serious. Christina asked where they were and told the daughter we were on our way and she would stay on the line. We didn’t have much information to go on, but were praying quietly as Christina talked through the panic. After what felt like a long time, but was probably only a few short minutes, we received the good news that a heart attack had been ruled out, but they were still going to the ER for tests.
We decided to swing by the apartment for supplies and make sure everything was in order in case we needed to be away for a while. And as impatient as I was to reach our friends, it turned out to be a very wise move.
Our friend with us was an incredible sport throughout the whole. She constituted herself the friend who brought levity into the situation and I really don’t know how we would have fared without her.
The ER was jam packed and undergoing renovations so it was quite the experience. We all bunched together waiting for news and made sure our friend’s daughter got some water, which she really needed. There wasn’t much more information, but we were able to hear more about what lead to the ER visit.
Thankfully, the ER staff soon brought our friend out in a wheelchair. When she saw us she said, “the entire church is here!” It was good medicine to our hearts to see her looking well, though tired, with a good complexion and strong voice. Further testing was done periodically and every conclusion was ruling out a heart attack and lending itself to something easily fixable, which is what we had prayed for. We stayed as long as we could and were able to pray together and leave them a loaf of chocolate chip pumpkin bread and more water before we left. From what we heard, the devoured it as soon as we headed out. We also munched on muffins and snacks as we took our friend home and on the way back.
There are small moments that stand out to me that spoke of beauty about this memorable evening. The joy of seeing a precious new one so recently welcomed into the world. Being part of a community who is there for each other.
Who knew that humor and baked good would be the base of helping us find beauty? Humor from our friend who was along for the ride and made the whole hard time of worrying about our friend by being herself. Praying all together as we waited for more news. The comfort of homemade baked goods that we had no idea would be need this way. A peace that it was going to be ok. An almost immediate relief by simply hearing the strong voice of our friend when she came back from her tests.
There was grief, and struggle, and worry, but interwoven through it all, were pockets of joy, pockets of beauty, pockets of provision. Sometimes, it’s hard to see it. But I’m grateful for the eyes to notice them that day.