Hello,
An interesting thing happened yesterday. I was stationed before worship, as usual, in front of our church building waving at people as they drove by on main street. As I have told you before, I get varied responses from my waving. Some don’t see me and drive right by. Some, I am sure, do see me and drive right by, too. Some wave back. Some honk their horns. But yesterday, something happened that has never happened before.
A white pick-up drove by. I waved. Because of the small oak tree that stand in our parkway, it is sometimes hard for people to see my waving until they are right upon me, and that is what happened with this pick-up driver. Just as the pick-up was passing me, the driver saw my wave, and tapped on his horn. I watched him drive down the road a bit, and then turning again in that direction, I saw him turning around. He drove back up to our church and parked immediately across from it, and got out of his truck. As he was coming across the road, I did not recognize his face, and so I said with a bounce in my voice, “Good morning.”
He reached the church side of the road and started walking up the stairs on the parkway, and as he did, he returned my greeting. He was dressed in clothes that would have made me think he was planning on doing some yardwork. “Good morning,” I said again as he reached the top of the stairs.
That is when he said to me, “I really appreciated your wave,” and he stretched out his hand and handed me a $50.00 bill. “Put that in the offering basket, would you. Just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated your wave.”
I said, “My, that is very kind of you. I just want people to know that they are loved by God. That is why I wave.”
“Well,” he said, “I really appreciated the wave,” and he turned around, got back into his pickup and as he drove off, I waved at him again.
In truth, the $50.00 bill was certainly not needed or expected, but it was a clear sign to me of the weight of my wave upon his heart. It underscored my hunch that there are people for whom an expression of God’s love to them is just what they need. It also underscored my hope that by this small gesture of God’s grace, my wave, that I give to people as they drive by might touch their hearts in a meaningful way.
I hope that these Bungee Cords come to you as a wave of God’s grace to you. Also, I hope that this Bungee Cord will be an encouragement to you to be “wavers” of God’s grace. That is to take the opportunity to do small things that convey God’s love that might actually touch people on any given day in a big way.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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