Serving Together

Serving Together

We are members of his body.

“He’s autistic,” his aunt said, somewhat distracted as she snagged another wayward child strolling along by the arm. Standing in front of the battered card table where we were wrapping gifts, she nodded at the child in my arms, who was concentrating on my round silver necklace, repeatedly dropping it and picking it up again. “That’s why he’s a runner.”

And boy, could he run. When he first arrived at the table, I caught a gleeful smirk as he eluded my grasp, happy to play this game. But now, he was tired of running and didn’t mind being rocked by me. As the presents for his family members were wrapped one by one, he fell asleep, head nodding, cookie crumbs clinging to his mouth.

Even as my arms fell asleep and my fingers went a little numb, I held onto the sweetness of the moment. Kids’ Hope Shop—an event where at-risk kids from the community can come and “shop” for their families for free—is always a highlight of my Christmas season.

Looking around, I saw my friend Samantha arriving in the doorway with another group of kids, cheeks flushed and feet stomping snow on the ground. I was just down the row from my friend Molly, another friend, Cheri, was across the room, and other friends from church were scattered throughout the event, all working toward the goal of making local children’s Christmases just a little brighter.

When we work together as friends united by a common goal, the sum is always greater than the parts. Jesus and his disciples, whom he considered friends, provided the best example of how we should work together. They were united in their goal of sharing the grace and mercy made available through Jesus.

As friends, some of our holiest work happens when we band together to serve others. That evening, even as I wrapped countless children’s gifts, I blessed the pause of holding someone else’s child until he fell asleep. After all, I had friends who were willing to step into my place behind the table to continue wrapping, working steadily onward to complete our goal.

— Kristin

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Choose a goal (or an event) to work toward together with friends.