Little Snapshots

He was restless, the tiny Korean tot, as he trotted up and down between aisles. When his mother took him out for the sixth time, he grinned back at the audience and waved vigorously. It was in the middle of Communion and there was an air of solemn reverence in the auditorium, but we couldn't help the responsive smiles.

Then it was choir practice and he was sitting on the chair in front of me, turned so he was facing me, as he drove a yellow car and a green bus on the back of the chair. When I stretched out my hand, he dropped the yellow car into it and when I politely handed the car back to him, his pudgy baby hands grasped it firmly instead of dropping the toy like other babies would. He did not speak to me, his black eyes stared solemnly at me, but he smiled and came running when I beckoned him. He sat on my lap for a brief moment before slipping down to play with two older boys. 

She laboriously pulled herself up into a sitting position as we entered their humble apartment. Just four days earlier she'd had twin babies and was now waiting for them to grow big enough to join them at home. Her husband hovered solicitously nearby, offering us drinks, making sure we were comfortable. They were the ones in need and they were serving us.

It was that awkward time when you entered the foot washing room for Communion service and you didn't have a partner. I looked around and saw a woman hesitating. I walked up to her. Do you have a partner? She didn't so I asked if I could wash her feet. She remembered me from years past, I knew her name and that she had a brother, but that was the extent of my memories. We washed each other's feet and then she disappeared.

The potluck meal was finished but the four of us lingered. We spoke with little explaining necessary, a Brazilian, a Portuguese, an American, and a Dutch, all women seeking after God in our various phases of life. Transplants from previous lives, we found a connection and solidarity in the commonality of being women of God. And as they drew me into their circle of trust, I marveled at how beautifully God orchestrated this moment before I'd even arrived.