The Ministry of Caring

I was just about to settle into a steaming bath on a cold winter’s night when I was stopped by the phone’s jarring ring. For a second I considered letting the answering machine get it, but instead I answered. It was my neighbor and friend, Jim telling me his wife was in labor and needed me. I had agreed to attend Kim in her homebirth and so I found myself wading through a deepening snow storm to their home. Once there I busied myself in any way asked of me. I fetched and carried what was needed by my laboring friend and her midwife and when I wasn’t running up and down the stairs, I sat in the bed beside Kim, holding her hand. It was a difficult delivery, the baby was positioned incorrectly, but at last a beautiful healthy little Katharine was delivered to her joyous parents. The next day my bruised hand bore marks from where Kim gripped it during the arduous delivery, and the sight of them made me smile.

God has called us to serve one another in Galatians 5:13, where we’re admonished us to “serve one another, humbly, in love”. Caring for others is a way of serving that brings us close to those we serve. There are many ways to care. Making a meal, helping with yard clean-up, sending an encouraging card, or just sitting with those whose need is beyond our ability to help.

We received another phone call in our home, some years after Katharine’s birth. This time, another of our neighbors was experiencing the tragic loss of their 18 year old daughter. When we heard of their child’s car accident and hospitalization, my husband and I knew we had to go to them. This was not an easy decision for us, as we had just six months earlier buried our own child, but we knew it was the right thing to do. When we arrived an hour away at the hospital where their daughter had been airlifted, our neighbors clung to us and thanked us for coming. Together we cried over this unimaginable loss. The Lord was able to minister to them, through us in this instance.

Sometimes we have to be the hands and arms of Jesus in the lives of those around us, and so fulfill the command to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Peace.