I want to say how encouraged I am by something that happened with the members of our church this week. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. We have some wonderful folks who are always going out of their way to serve. Yet I was surprised because I didn’t think the event was general knowledge and so I didn’t expect many would come.

It was a birthday party for a lady we have taken up driving to church. Since this does go out to a generally accessible blog before hitting Facebook I am deliberately avoiding the use of too many names and places, yet it’s hard to make this story all it should be without using names, so I’ll make some up. I’ll call our birthday girl Jenny. Jenny doesn’t say much, so it’s hard to get to know her well, but we do know that though she lives alone she needs a little help managing her affairs. Another member of the church helps with that, and everyone else pitches in as needed.

Jenny is one of many who come to our church because it exists to serve the needs of people and families affected by disability. Most of our handicaps are physical rather than mental, but we all understand the challenges that come with needing a little extra help.

As Jenny’s birthday approached, another lady in the church decided to throw her a party. She reserved the clubhouse in her apartment complex for the event and offered to provide the main course. From the outset I wondered how well this was going to work. I knew that she really didn’t have the means to do it. Linda and I offered to bring the birthday girl and provide drinks, but we kept thinking maybe we should bring a lot more.

We did end up bringing more than we promised just in case, but we needn’t have worried. The five or six people we expected turned out to be most of the church and even a few folks we only see once in a while. Everyone brought more than enough and we all had a wonderful afternoon together.

It makes me happy to be where I am. This is the way the church is supposed to be. When there’s a need we make sure it is met even if it’s something as seemingly insignificant as pulling off a birthday party. I don’t know what Jenny thinks about all of this. I don’t know if she is able to see much past the moment. Most of those who jumped in may not even get any thanks for it, but it was done. It makes me glad to be a part of this body.