Violet Voices

Some days, dinner would be appreciated

by Meredith Efken

In August, I posted what I wanted for my birthday. It had to do with a young woman I met in my neighborhood named Jeanette.

Well, God knows how to give GREAT gifts, because a couple weeks ago, I saw her again. Next door. She was surprised and very pleased that I’d remembered her name. She commented again on how much she loves my roses. And she had a surprise for me.

She had moved in next door!

It’s amazing how God works. I told her that I wanted to be her friend, and that anytime she needed anything, just come knock on my door. I said I’d like her to come over for dinner sometime. She said she’d love that. Then she had to go–off with some guy in a car. I’m not sure I want to know the details beyond that–my heart is breaking enough with my educated guesses.

Then I was out of town for the writers conference. I think I saw her once this past week, her hair all done up in curls, getting ready to go out yet again. But the last couple of days, nothing. She’s been on my mind and heart a lot, and I’m starting to worry about her.

So I decided to keep an eye on the traffic coming and going next door and start asking about her. I asked one man who had come to “visit a friend.” He thought he knew who I was talking about, but hadn’t seen her. He seemed a bit bemused that I wanted to find her. “You’re just a friendly type of person, huh?” Yeah…that’s me. Just bein’ neighborly, y’know.

Then, I saw a blond gal that I thought was her for a moment. But it wasn’t. This one’s name is Terri. She, too, was on her way out somewhere, but she took the time to chat with me.

She said she thought Jeanette had gotten picked up yesterday on “a warrant for…something” (Yeah, three guesses on what the “something” is…) and was still in jail. She was amazed when I said I was a friend and was going to try to find a way to visit her. Even more amazed when I told her that I wanted her and her other friends to know if they ever needed anything, to come knock on my door.

I said I’d love to have her over for dinner sometime. She said it was really rare to meet somebody like that. I was afraid I was maybe moving too fast and freaking her out, and I said so.

Her response made me want to cry. “No, not at all,” she said. “Some days, dinner would be really appreciated.”

Oh God–when You said giving even a drink of water was a gift done unto You, I used to think you were exaggerated for the sake of making a point. But there are Your children out there for whom a drink of water, a simple meal, is a real gift. The pain of that fresh understanding breaks my heart, but I’m so glad for the insight. Now, I want the open doors to do something about it.

So, please, everybody, pray for Jeanette…and now for Terri, too. God loves them, and they need us to love them as well.

The Some days, dinner would be appreciated by Violet Voices, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Written By: Meredith Efken
Posted under: Women's Voices .  Email This Post