More Insight

Insight

(Dragonfly Ministries President, Mary Hamrick)

August 2006

"Water"

My daughter, Kendall, has been telling me that her love language is spending quality time with the ones that she loves.  Since the time that Kendall shared this tidbit with me, I’ve been more aware of my own love language.  I remember a time several years ago when I went to summer camp with the youth from our church in Texas.  Each morning, Lisa (one of the adult counselors from our church), would get coffee for several of the women from our church.  Each morning I would see her walk by with the coffee for her friends.  I knew that it was a long haul to the cafeteria to get the coffee, and she only had two hands, so the amount of coffee she could carry was limited, so I didn’t think I was visibly disappointed when she passed me by with the coffee to make the delivery to the other women.  However, on Wednesday morning of camp week, I saw Lisa approaching with the morning coffee cups.  I smiled at her and returned to the chore of making my bunk bed.  Lisa walked up to me, held out a cup of coffee, and said, “Mary, I brought you a cup of fresh coffee.”  Lisa’s kindness took my breath away and my eyes clouded over. “But …?”  I was speechless.  Lisa answered, “I could see the disappointment in your face when I walked past you and didn’t offer you coffee.  I can only carry so much with these two hands, so this morning, I borrowed the golf cart so I could carry back coffee for everyone.”

That happened 5 years ago, and still, her thoughtfulness remains in my heart and memory.  I felt so loved and accepted because of a cup of morning coffee that I hadn’t asked for, but that I desired.  I have come to realize that my love language – the thing that speaks loudest to my heart – is in those random acts of kindness that are unexpected, yet desired.

During July 2006, 23 people (youth and adults) from our church went on a mission trip to Smithfield, NC.  We went to help an organization called “World Changers”, which is an organization that works in partnership with various communities throughout the United States.  The communities provide shelter (usually school buildings; area churches provide lunch, snacks, water and encouragement to the volunteers; businesses within the community donate supplies or funds to purchase supplies for repairing homes, and the World Changers volunteers provide the labor – it is truly a labor of love; each volunteer has to raise the funds to be a part of this mission trip, and the labor is provided without fee.)  During our mission trip to Smithfield, we met up with approximately 300 other volunteers from various churches located from around the United States; we were all housed and fed in a local high school, we were split into 23 crews of 12 crew members per team, and we met for a worship service each night.  In addition, each crew was assigned a sponsor church which provided our lunch, fresh water, and encouragement during the week.

Our crew consisted of three adults and nine high school students.  Our assignment was to put a new roof on the home of an elderly woman (Ms. Elsie) and to repair the deck and handicap ramp on the back of her house.  My role on the crew was to the an encourager – which was basically to be the mama – to make sure everyone got along with one another; worked, rested, and had plenty of water; to keep things moving along, to encourage, encourage, encourage.  It was an awesome task, with an awesome group of young people and adults.

Each day of the week, Ms. Elsie’s house overflowed with children – sometimes only four children were there; other times, she had as many as nine children; our crew had quite a bit of entertainment from the precious children as they pulled out lawn chairs and sat under the shade tree and watched us work.  Our sponsor church brought our lunch each day, and the children were invited to dine with us under the shade tree, and then to stay and listen as we shared a devotional together.

The days were hot in Smithfield and the humidity was high.  We worked on the rooftop from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., we hammered and nailed and cut and chalk-lined and tarred until we were completely finished with our project (and worn out).  We finished the roofing project on Thursday morning and then all attention was put on completing the deck / handicap ramp portion of our project; plus we had enough time to repair and paint the front porch, cut the grass, and put in some plants in Ms. Elsie’s flower bed. 

My assignment during the day on Thursday was to reorganize the trailer of our crew chief.  We had been pulling tools out and throwing tools back into the trailer for several days, so it was almost impossible to find anything in the trailer.  Our crew chief asked me to reorganize the trailer, so into the hot trailer I climbed.  Everyone else was busy, so I began to pull out all of the equipment, sort / organize it, and then started to put it back into the hot trailer with some sort of organization to it.  And it was hot in there.  Very hot – no breeze, no windows – but the work needed to be done and I kept quoting to myself, under my breath, Philippians 2:14 which says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing” and Colossians 3:23 which says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”  Part of the World Changers mission trips are to teach us to work as unto the Lord, and to do it with HIS love and in HIS strength, not in our own.  So I kept repeating the scriptures in my mind, and focused on singing one of my favorites, “Our God is an Awesome God”.  I call it ‘centering-music’.

As I was working in the hot trailer, I was sweating profusely, my face was red from the heat and stress of the lifting / moving, and I was thinking, “I am going to get this done so I can take a break, get some water, sit in the shade.”  About that time, I heard someone say, “Miss Mary”.  I looked up and saw Gordon, my 16-year old friend (one of our crew members) standing in the doorway of the trailer holding out a cup of cold water. I had been trying to work as unto the Lord without grumbling or complaining, and the Lord had sent me a cup of cold water, delivered by my favorite 16 year old with a smile.  I was humbled.  I should have been the one out in the heat of the day making sure the crew members were watered down; instead, here was one of these young people coming to my aid.  I wish I could explain how I felt in that moment; I was so overcome by the servant nature of that young man that I couldn’t move, I couldn’t’ speak.  I just stood there and looked at him; I just could not conceive that someone of that age would think of me, in the hot trailer.  His answer, “Miss Mary, you look like you’re hot and could use some water.” 

Each time I think about our trip to Smithfield, NC, I remember the roofing job and the camaraderie of our crew in working together so well; I remember having to stand in line at the school to take a shower in the girls locker room; I remember our sponsor church and the wonderful people who brought us food and encouragement; I remember the nightly devotionals with the youth from our own church and the evening worship services with hands of young people and adults raised high to worship our Lord and King; but the one thing that truly stands out in my heart is the servant’s heart that this young man showed to me – I was supposed to be taking care of everyone else --- and yet, he brought me water.  The memory humbles me each time and I say a prayer of thanksgiving for this young man, for his witness to me on a hot, July afternoon.

I am reminded of the verse in Matthew 25:34-40 which says, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  “The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

For all the days of my life, I will remember the hand held out with that cup of cold water, waiting to refresh me – because in that moment of time, what I saw was the hand of my Lord, reaching out to meet my need, through one of his servants.  Thank you, Gordon. 

Don’t think that the small things done for another go unnoticed.  A drink of water or a cup of coffee given out of love speaks more than words could ever speak.  A touch on the shoulder of someone who is hurting; a prayer spoken to someone in need; don’t forget about the small things – those are, at times, the best things you can give to another, because those things represent Christ to them. 

Mary H.