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“I’ll see you
at home.” said Mr. Mawakasunga to his wife as he and Elizabeth
headed for the back door at church. Children’s choir rehearsal
just finished and Mrs. Mawakasunga just finished her Bible Study
group and they had two cars there and Elizabeth decided to ride
home with her daddy.
“I’ll be
here just a few more minutes.” said Mrs. Mawakasunga.
As Mr.
Mawakasunga and Elizabeth headed through the kitchen they met up
with Uncle Floyd and Barabas who also were leaving out the back
door.
“Reckon we’ll
sleep good tonight! Nice cool evening.” said Uncle Floyd as
they opened the door into the dark back parking lot.
“Well, what
do we have here?!” said Mr. Mawakasunga as he bent down to pet a
friendly little dog who rushed over, wagging his little tail.
(We will just pretend there is a little dog here.)
“Ahhh! He’s
so cute!” said Elizabeth. “He’s look really skinny and
dirty.” said Barabas
And that is
when Uncle Floyd and Mr. Mawakasunga heard a sound . . . beside
the dumpster. They both thought the same thing and silently
made a plan. Friends can do that, make emergency plans without
saying words.
“Tell you
what Elizabeth and Barabas, how about you both go home with Mrs.
Mawakasunga.” said Elizabeth’s daddy. And he took them back
inside and gave Mrs. Mawakasunga a look that said “I’ll tell you
later.” Then Mr. Mawakasunga joined Uncle Floyd out the back
door again. “Cute little puppy.” he said, to buy some time.
“I reckon his
owner must love him. Looks like he could use a bit o’ feedin’
though.” said Uncle Floyd. “I reckon there’s some scraps in the
refrigerator.” Uncle Floyd hurried in while Mr. Mawakasunga
stayed with the puppy. Then, as the two of them hunched down
and watched the puppy eagerly scarf down the bit of food, they
again heard a sound . . . over by the dumpster.
Mr.
Mawakasunga and Uncle Floyd again looked at each other, then
Uncle Floyd said in a loud but friendly voice “I reckon if this
puppy’s owner was hungry, we’d have a bit o’ food for him as
well.” . . . and finally a stooped figure, dressed in dirty
clothing came around from behind the dumpster. (You will have
to imagine the homeless man.)
The four of
them stood in the dark silence a moment: the tall handsome
giraffe, the plump church sexton with a tattoo on his arm, the
very hungry puppy and the dirty, homeless man. . . .
“I reckon a
plate of mashed potatoes and gravy sound okay?” Uncle Floyd
asked. “Yeah.” said the man, with a little hesitance. “It’s
been awhile since . . .”
In the
113th Psalm that we read this morning it says
“God stoops to look, and he lifts the poor
from the dirt and the needy from the garbage dump.”
Uncle Floyd
and Mr. Mawakasunga made arrangements to take the young man and
his dog over to Bethesda Mission, in Harrisburg where there is a
building called a shelter for men who have no place to sleep.
The four of them went over in Uncle Floyd’s truck. The homeless
man was very thankful.
Uncle Floyd
and Mr. Mawakasunga were very careful and very smart when they
offered the help. I believe that they were like God’s hands,
reaching out to that poor man and his dog in the dark beside the
dumpster, just like what is says in the Psalm: He lifts the
poor from the garbage dump! THE END
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