One and a Half

Year 4-Day 79:Today, I am grateful for hands that serve in tandem. 

Another Illinois Mennonite Relief Sale is done.  Two days of serving side by side with brothers and sisters from many different churches, representing many communities.  The common cause is to provide relief to those in need at home and away...serving in the name of Jesus. 

Funny...it is has sort have become a "family reunion".  One sweet little couple from Manito made it again for pancakes and sausage this morning.  Just last night I thinking of them, hoping they were still both well and able to make the trip.  They are easy to spot.  He is tall for 87...still a good 6 feet tall and typically in a bright yellow coat and his lovely bride of the past 70 years is literally half his height...if that.  He always tell the girls at the ticket counter that they are "One and a Half". 

"One and a Half" married at age seventeen and God has graciously granted them seventy sweet years together. I am sure there have been good years and tough ones.  Life has challenges.  Their love is evident in their smiles and their patience with each other.  They have lived life side by side for so many years. I pray God grants them 71 and we will see them again next year.

Living life for Christ and working with others toward a common goal is what community is all about.  "In tandem" literally means one behind the other, although the meaning has been stretched to encompass group work.  One behind the other is exactly what we saw again this weekend.  One would flip the pancake, another would serve...and then more would come behind picking up the trash.  The booths and quilts were handled in much the same way.  Many hands make light work. The fellowship of the entire community fills the Interstate Center Buildings with a warmth that has nothing to do with the heaters. 

Today, I am grateful for hands that share, care and serve in tandem.