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Don't Worry: 'The Lord's Been Good to Me'
By John Skipper
MASON CITY, IA (December 25, 2004) - The woman wouldn't want me to mention her
name. But her story is one that needs to be told during the holiday season.
She is nearing 80 and is a widow. She lost her husband to cancer several
years ago and has also lost son to a debilitating disease. She has other
grown children and two grandchildren.
The woman called the newspaper (where I work) because she found an old
book in her home and wanted ideas on who would be interested in having
it. We chatted for a few minutes. I knew her husband and her son. That
was my only connection with her.
When I asked how she was doing, the woman told me about a bit of a
dilemma she was having. With the little bit of money she had coming in,
she said she had to pay her bills, pay $466 for her health insurance,
$300 for prescription drugs, buy food for herself and also buy Christmas
presents for her grandchildren. She said she didn't have enough money to
do it all.
I suggested she should take care of her needs first so that she could
stay healthy. That would be the best present of all for her
grandchildren. I wished her well and our conversation ended. But I found
myself continually thinking about her problem. Food. Medicine. Christmas
gifts. And not enough money.
I've heard that story many times over the years from needy people who
have done nothing wrong. They just had the audacity to grow old. Each
time I hear their story, my heart aches. But what can I do? I thought
about starting up a collection for her - just to show her somebody cares.
Two days after our first conversation, I called her back. I thought the
least I could do was express my concern and let her know I was thinking
about her.
"I figured out what to do," she said. I could almost see the twinkle in
her eye through the
phone line. "Everywhere I could, I paid a little bit on all my bills. I
had a little money left, so I went to the Dollar Store. I got everybody
a little something. Don't worry about me, I'm doing fine."
And then I thought to myself, "Who's comforting who here?" She will
continue to wrestle every month with paying her bills, buying her food,
getting her medication and paying her insurance. But she'll get by
because she has a peace about her that I neglected to detect the first
time I talked to her. And that turned out to be the real Christmas
message for me.
"I can't complain," she said. "The real Christmas to me is the birth of
Christ. And the Lord has been very good to me."
Editor's note: This newspaper column appeared December 13, 2004, and
is published here with permission of the Globe Gazette in Mason
City, Iowa. The writer is a longtime member of First Covenant Church.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
