Trying To Do The Right Thing

What is it about a death that makes people want to bring food? I guess because it is a necessary part of life and because you know it helps the person who is grieving to not have to handle anything they don't have to while they are handling the big stuff they are facing. So, you bring food-- because, other than saying, "I am sorry for your loss," what else can you do?

So, as soon as I heard about my friend Kitty losing her husband, I was on the phone and email signing up to bring food. I like to cook, so this is a natural outlet for me to offer. And it feels productive to be standing in my kitchen fixing something that will nourish the bodies of the bereft, even though we all know their souls will still feel so, so empty.

Last night I was supposed to bring out some "finger foods" for the people that were going to be in and out over the next two days with the funeral. I picked up a couple of baguettes and some jarred Bruschetta sauce, and my sweet daughter made chocolate no-bake cookies-- a staple around here! Just as we loaded up the car, it started to rain. We haven't had rain here in months, I will add.

As we drove, we drove into the storm. And I have to say that by the time we got to the intersection near her house, we just had to stop the car. The storm was that bad. I have never experienced something like that in my life. I thought for sure the winds were going to turn the car over, the hail was going to crack the windshield, and we were quite possibly going to die. It was frightening. We sat that way for a good while as we waited for the storms to pass. Our nerves were pretty much shot after that experience. The power was out all over the place and the phones were even down. But we delivered the food-- shaking our heads about how we were just trying to do something nice and got stuck in that terrible storm in the process.

Fast forward to today. They were having a luncheon for the family today at our old church so I volunteered to bring some food to that as well. I made shredded barbecue chicken for sandwiches and some banana pudding. Curt also picked up a nugget tray and ice tea that my friends donated from the Chick fil a. The plan was for me to meet him at the CFA so he could take it on to the church, where he would be staying for the funeral.

Just as I turned into the CFA parking lot, I noticed steam or smoke or something coming from the hood of my car. And the temp guage was all the way in the red. Oh no. I pulled into a parking space where Curt was waiting. He popped the hood of my car and shook his head. "The radiator hose is busted," he explained. He followed me over to the Firestone place in the same shopping center and we left the thing to be fixed. Then we headed to the church to drop the food, shaking our heads. Once again, we tried to do something nice and something bad happened in the process.

Here is a verse I "happened" to read this morning. I don't think it was any accident!
"After all, we don't want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief-- we're not oblivious to his sly ways!" II Corinthians 2:11 (MSG)
Satan hates to see us comforting each other through loss. He doesn't want us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. I am glad God overcame the situations we faced and enabled us to still reach out to Kitty and the rest of Tom's family.

But I am going to take a break on bringing them food for awhile.