What does one give when they have nothing to offer? Everything.
Like so many others, I remember vividly the morning of September 11, 2001. I was expecting our third boy and had recently gotten off restricted bed rest. My mother called me, crying, to say a bomb or something had hit the Pentagon and one of the Twin Towers. Having been sleeping until the phone rang, I was in a daze and could not understand what she was talking about.
Leaving my husband to sleep after another late shift, I tiredly stumble to the living room and turned on the TV. Pictured of smoking buildings filed the screen. I watched as a plane hit the second tower. "Is this for real?" I asked my mom. "Is this really happening? Is it a movie? I do not understand what is going on!" I went in to wake my husband. I was terrified. I needed my hand securely in his. Then, over the course of the next several minutes we all watched in horror, still on the phone with my mother hundreds of miles away, as the buildings came crashing down one after another. People screaming. Then, blackness.
For the next two days I could not tear myself away from the screen. I am an em-path and I have a ... desire to mourn with those that mourn. I feel their pain. I take on their hurt, so later God can use me to help heal them. I needed to do that right then. I was also dealing with a high risk pregnancy and the stress of what was happening may have effected my baby, we later learned.
I thrive in serving others and I needed to serve during those first few days. My husband and I talked of driving across the country to New York to help where it was needed, but we knew it was not realistic. We had two small children and I was cautiously carrying our third. I could not donate blood, I then learned, because it was needed for my baby. What could I do?!
Being pre-social media days, reaching out to others meant actually picking up a phone, or walking to a neighbor's house. Praying for guidance, I called the leader of our church's local women's organization. As I shared me idea with her, she became excited to help.
On the news, it was shared that the rescuers were burning through their gloves, shoes were melting, and they were in desperate need of more medical supplies. Calling the area church leaders, I received permission to put collection boxes throughout the church building in the area. I made a flyer and hung it around the neighborhood, as well as with the boxes, and stood on the corner by Subway handing them out as well. My house became the main drop off point. In just a few days, we had collected much needed items to be sent to New York: rubbing alcohol, bandages, work gloves, etc. The response and outpouring of kindness was astonishing.
My favorite contribution, though, brings me to tears whenever I think of it. Inside one box collected from the church was not a package of bandages, but five individual bandaids, of various brands. They just sat at the bottom of the box. I imagine that the family who gave these wanted, like so many others, to desperately help ease some suffering. Not having anything else to offer, the mother and children gathered a few precious items from around the house, consecrating them to those who were in need. Perhaps it was all they could do, yet do they know that in giving so little, they changed many lives?
A few days later as I took the gathered and sorted items to the local Red Cross, I pulled out the bandaids, sharing them the story of how these items came to be. The ladies I spoke to that day were visibly moved to tears. They, too, could recognize the sacrifice of the hands that gave these inexpensive, but valuable items. They, too, could feel the Spirit of Giving through this gift.
How much are we willing to give to bring light to the world, to make a difference, no matter how small? Are we willing to give up some of our most precious possessions to be Keepers of Kindness, Guardians of Light? These bandaids were such as the Widow's Mite, truly a sacrifice, yet one that needed to be given. There is goodness all around us. We can remember the storied of Light when we think of the tragic events of September 11th. Share the goodness. Give what you can. Be the Light in this dark world.
Sharing Goodness,
Mama Dragon
Mama Dragon
