My daughter is in 8th grade and had a friend over at the house on Saturday. They were talking about another one of their good friends who had been really sick, missing a few days at school.
Buying into the latest obsession sweeping through the media, they joked about how their friend must have come down with Coronavirus.
They started brainstorming things they could do to make her feel better. They wanted to ding-dong-ditch her house but leave flowers. I told them I couldn’t help them do that, her parents would see me in the getaway car, and I wanted to remain a respectable citizen.
My wife was opposed to them delivering the flowers to the door and interacting with their friend as she might be contagious.
One of the girls came up with the bright idea of getting some of those “gas masks” they hand out in the ER when you are sick! It was such a great idea I couldn’t help but facilitate.
We head out to get the flowers, stopping by the Immediate Care. They sneak in and grab a couple of cough masks from the dispenser and we head for the flower store. They picked out a bunch of flowers and a get well soon balloon; unfortunately, they didn’t have a Corona ballon.
The girls are giddy with excitement and having so much fun. Saying things like “We are so awesome,” “We are such great friends.” One of them quipped, “Yeah, we are so humble too.”
We deliver the flowers, and their friend comes down to the door, sees them in masks, and starts cracking up laughing. She kept on saying how they made her day and made her feel better. Her mom said that they hadn’t seen her smile in a week.
I snapped a picture of the three of them at the door. They posted it on social media with the caption “Curing Corona 2020.”
Thinking about this story over the last few days, I wonder if this is what living life with God is all about. Getting up to whimsical mischief, doing the unexpected for others, brightening their days and making them feel better. Healing people.
Seeing how much hurt and pain is in the world, knowing how I fall short, only taking care of myself, walking with God can seem like heavy lifting, drudgery, trudging through the mud and the mire.
Maybe playfulness is the better way.
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Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
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