The Face

Sometimes it is all in the face. You can see it. I went to a cross country meet this morning. For the uninitiated it is a 3.1 mile race over hills and countryside. The course wraps around so the families and friends of the runners get to see them go by 2 times. It is a lot of fun to watch.

This morning as the students ran by every one had a look on his/her face that was a cross between a grimace and pain. No smiles and waves for the crowd. No laughter. They were sweating and moving; huffing and puffing.

My neighbor had colon cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. He was out walking in the cul-de-sac as I mowed my lawn. I stopped mowing and we chatted about life, cancer, side effects and recovery. He had a smile on his face as he told me about the pain of the portal they put in his chest so they can shoot chemicals into it. As he talked I noted three things we could pray specifically for him and then he continued on his walk.

I kept mowing and he came around again. I stopped again and we chatted some more about lawns and watering. Then he went on and I finished up. I think life is kind of like that. We go around in a circle and see the same people. Sometimes smiling through the pain, sometimes visibly showing the pain. Sometimes talking about grass and sometimes just cheering them on. I am thinking the community we live in is where we are called to meet people over and over again and to worship Him well by doing just that as we too run the race or walk the cul-de-sac.