The Widow's Mite

Let the show begin! We are here for the State DI contest. I took a wild pack of excited teens to the site last night to set up. Then exhausted from the hospital ordeal of Mom K and from having been up since 4 a.m. yesterday, handed them off to the other parents to supervise as the excited kids played poker in the hotel lobby. I dragged myself off to try to sleep. I never sleep well in hotels, but I did for at least a few hours last night. Total exhaustion has a way of doing that.

Mom K, after her fall yesterday, was X-rayed in ER. I gasped when I saw the total snap of the bone. Good golly, that must have hurt! They took her into surgery and the follow-up x-ray showed a long metal strip down the femur with a brace across the hip. She will never break that hip again. Of course, the other side is still waiting for the next fall....

"Smile!" said Arvo snapping her picture as she came out of recovery, "Hospital visit # 11!"

She opened her eyes and looked at us, "Oh my. Oh my," she said.
Yes. Oh my!

Arvo and I had prayed before he dashed off at 4 a.m. to meet the ambulance in the ER. We are both growing weary of the sleepless nights, and the many worries and emergencies. But God reminds us, "Do not grow weary in doing good." Caring for those who once cared so tenderly for us is one of those things I am certain He would have us not grow weary doing.

She survived the surgery well, no small feat for an 88 year old woman in tenuous health. I saw for myself that she was safely through the surgery, and stroked her forehead when she opened her eyes. Then, Arvo stayed behind to minister to her while I headed off to Asheville for the NC DI State contest.

I woke early, but felt better than I had yesterday. As I was dressing, I found a bracelet in my toiletry kit I had gotten years ago from Sonlight, the homeschool curriculum I use. It had a "widow's mite" charm on it. I think it is a replica of the "mite" or smallest unit of money from Jesus' time. Remember the widow offered all she had to the service of God, putting in her meager savings as a temple offering, two tiny mites. Jesus praised the offering, knowing it was the whole of what she had, small as it was. We may have little to give, I thought, thinking back on the year of managing the DI team, but if we give it our all, it is sanctified. I put the bracelet on.

I hope they do well, but no one is allowed to say, "Break a Leg."

Mark 12:41-44 (NIV)
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. [42] But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. [43] Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. [44] They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything---all she had to live on.”




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