Help Is On the Way

Have you ever known anyone that didn’t recognize his spiritual gift; yet it was very apparent to others? I know such a person and his gift played a part in my life this last week.

1 Corinthians 12:28 talks about some of these different gifts, one of which is the gift of helps. And Romans 12 :7 tells us that if you have the gift of serving others, serve them well. It is obvious to me that this friend has this gift. I’ve picked this up from conversations we’ve had, but this week I experienced it personally. Let me tell you the story.

Ivan and his wife, Arlene, belong to the same Bible Study group that I do. We call ourselves the Youth Group; although this title is a bit misleading. Jan, another member, jokingly called us the Youth Group one day and it stuck. We meet every week and rotate homes to gather in. In between meetings we communicate by group text.

As a senior citizen and living alone, I have been made to promise to let someone know before engaging in risky behavior. So….it was just natural for me to send out a text to the group this week regarding my planned activity for the afternoon. My text read: Hi guys. I’m going to go clean my gutters and will be on my roof. It usually takes me about an hour. I just like to let someone know when I’m up on the roof. I will let you know as soon as I’m down. I’ll have my phone with me.

Unbeknownst to me, several texts were being fired back, but I was already focused on lugging the cumbersome ladder into the flower bed, while keeping my balance. Heavy ladders are a bit of a challenge for my 5 foot fine-boned frame. If you’ve formed a picture of a vertically challenged woman trying to control an aluminum ladder that’s waving in the air six feet above her head…that’s fairly accurate.

Bucket in hand, I clamber up the ladder. Once I get to the top and contemplate how I will maneuver over to the roof, I realize it would have been smart to have left the back gate unlocked in case things didn’t go according to plan. I give a sigh of relief when my feet are solidly planted on the roof. I have a fear of edges so I sit down quickly. My posterior has a wider base than my size six feet; I feel more secure contacting the roof with my largest part.

If it’s a nice warm day, like it was this day, I enjoy the view from the roof. I think it’s quite entertaining to watch people as they walk by – having no idea they are under surveillance. The things people say to their dogs!

I scooted along on the back side of the house, throwing gutter contents into my bucket. When you’re not doing a pleasant job, there’s still satisfaction in knowing you are getting the job done. That’s what I was thinking about as well as relishing in the thought that I had picked a beautiful day to do it. I finished up on the back side of the roof and made my way to the other side. As I step over the roof ridge (standing up now that I’m away from the edge), I get a surprise. Instead of just dogs and neighbors passing by, there was Maridel and Ivan standing in my yard – both fellow members of the Youth Group. “What are you guys doing here?” I called down from the roof. “Coming to help you,” Ivan said. “And I came over to make sure you hadn’t fallen and broken your neck,” Maridel said. She admitted to being scared of heights so seeing I was fine, she went home to bake cookies. I never expected all this attention!

No matter what I said, Ivan would not be persuaded to stay on the ground. We worked steadily until the gutters were slime, mud, and leaf free.

Gotquestions.org states that some see the gift of helps as given to those who are willing to “lend a hand” and do even the most mundane and disagreeable tasks with a spirit of humility and grace. That’s Ivan – even if he doesn’t know it. How many jobs can you think of that are as mundane as cleaning gutters? He will likely be helping people until he no longer can. I don’t imagine that will be any time soon. After all – he’s only 87.

Until next time – keep on readin’ and I’ll keep on writin’.