Even though I’m retired and can do whatever work I want on whatever day, I still do more yard on a Saturday than on weekdays. This past Saturday I had big plans for two hours of specific work, finishing stuff I started Monday through Thursday. But I had already decided I wasn’t going to work in the yard, because our church had a special ministry opportunity, something known for a few weeks.

Each summer, in August, we have partnered with Samaritan’s Feet to provide shoes to needed children who would soon be back in school. It normally involves foot washing and giving a pair of socks along with the shoes. Last year we cancelled it due to covid concerns. We had it scheduled for this year when it seemed covid was under control. Our problem was construction adjacent to the church that has severely reduced our parking. Then, covid began to rear-up again.

However, since we had them (Samaritan’s feet) scheduled, our leadership reached out to our Hispanic church in Springdale, who accepted our church partnering with them and holding the event for them at their church. That happened this Saturday. We were supposed to sign up online for what job we wanted to do. All the volunteer slots were from 8:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. I signed up to be one of those moving shoes from the back “inventory” table to the front for access by those giving them to the recipients. That seemed like a nice indoor job (i.e. in air conditioning).

I arrived a little early, and saw people pulling things out of a trailer. The plans for the day included hot dogs, snow cones, cotton candy, small back of chips, and water for all recipients and their parents, as well as for the volunteers as available. Also included was an inflatable play house, but the kind where only two kids at a time enter and no one else goes in until they come out. That was a covid concession to not have the type of house where many kids are in it. They were just pulling them out of the trailer when I came, so I joined the work crew and we figured out how to set them up.

They were also putting up awnings to cover the different food areas. I helped with that, and helped moved the grill out of the trailer and find a place in the shade for it. Then I figured they would be ready to train the inside volunteers, so quickly went there. I was wrong. They were already halfway through with the training. As I listened and looked over the set up, it seemed to me they didn’t need four people to do the job I had signed up for. Two people could easily handle it. They had 400 people signed up to receive shoes, which sounded like a lot, but the system is so well set up that I couldn’t see that I was needed for that. Because of covid fears, the normal foot washing was suspended, reducing close contact between volunteers and recipients.

Back outside, I looked for a job to do. Because of covid they were going to individually wrap hotdogs. A few of us figured out a system for that and, as the delectable meat began coming off the grill we fell into a rhythm where three of us did the wrapping—wearing masks and gloves, of course, and making use of hand sanitizer.

Alas, the hot dog wrapping table was just outside the shadow of the awning. It was hot, and I wore down fairly quickly. I found a shady place to sit from time to time. I did some trash pickup. I went inside when supplies were needed—anything to get out of the sun.

Even with these steps, I was done by about 12:45. All the hotdogs had been grilled and wrapped and over 200 already given out. Most people who had signed up to get shoes had come and gone with their tote bag of shoes, socks, school supplies, and a small message card. Of the 400 who signed up, they estimated about 30 percent no shows. But people who didn’t sign up came by, and because of the no-shows they were able to receive shoes.

Also going on was a food pantry and a covid vaccine clinic. Both of those served a good number of people. The food pantry, mainly of bread products donated to the church, looked like it might be a regular part of their ministry. The covid clinic was something we arranged for to hopefully catch people who came for shoes but who had not availed themselves of the vaccine. That seemed to work.

I got home (a 30 mile drive) a little before 2 p.m. I tried to read awhile but my bum knee hurt too much. I went to the couch and, once I found a comfortable lot, was out light a light and slept close to two hours. I should have taken an extra pain pill because the knee prevented me from getting a restful night’s sleep.

Yes, I was tired. Yes, I paid for the extra activity. But it was worth it. The yardwork will still be there Monday morning and after. Hopefully I’ll be able to do this again next year. The construction next to our church will be finished, perhaps covid will be in check, and it will be a more normal set-up.

Thanks go out to Samaritan’s Feet and to our church leadership for figuring out how to make this ministry available in difficult circumstances. People (both recipients and volunteers were blessed) and the kingdom of God advanced a notch in the process.

But, I was busy enough I forgot to take photos of the event. This video will tell you a little. How’s your Spanish?