Dear Harpeth Hills Family,

I remember it like it was yesterday, although some of the details are a bit fuzzy now. I was driving back to my office, late to the next meeting. It was an October day, chilly and rainy. I first saw her standing on the street waiting for the bus, wet from the rain because she wasn’t wearing a coat.

My first response was sarcasm. Isn’t she at least smart enough to wear a coat in the rain? A few blocks later, sarcasm turned into a conviction, and then a punch in the gut. I wondered who she was, why she wasn’t wearing a coat, and where was she going?

Driving back to the bus stop, I cracked my window so the rain wouldn’t get me wet. I asked, “Hey, did you miss your bus? Do you have a coat?”

She was maybe 17, about the age of my daughter. She had ridden a bus from Memphis that morning and arrived late. She came here to interview for a night position, cleaning a hotel. They told her to come back the next day for a decision. She didn’t know anything about Nashville, especially the bus routes. She was headed downtown to a shelter. She hadn’t planned on, nor thought about, rain or anything else; just the hopes of getting hired. She didn’t have a coat, any other clothes other than what she was wearing, and $22 in her pocket.

I asked if I could at least give her a ride downtown. She got in, wet and cold. We stopped at the Burlington Store so she could get a coat. We went through the entire section of women’s selections. She was a large girl, and none of the coats were big enough, so the clerk suggested we look in the men’s section. As I watched, I fought back the tears. Her shame and embarrassment were obvious.

After driving through a fast food restaurant, I dropped her off with $100, a new coat, and a paperback copy of the New Testament. I don’t recall her name. But I will never forget her face.

This period of time has and continues to be difficult for all of us. Yet, new and growing opportunities for the Church to be the Church in new and powerful ways are being rediscovered. Unwanted interruptions and even disruptions can lead us toward blessings to be given and received, which would never be experienced otherwise.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
~Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

So Church, how will you let goodness flow through you this week?

We love you.

-Your Shepherds