The Dichotomy of Days

 Good afternoon.

 It’s been sort of a roller-coaster couple of days for me this week.  Yesterday, the wife and I went to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson and took in the sights…both traditional and some new.  It was also band day there and several high school and middle school bands were there.  They marched into the fairgrounds; then went to the free entertainment arena and played a couple of numbers before they dismissed the kids to enjoy the fair.  Two of our grand kids were in their high school band, so we got to see them there as well.

The fairgrounds weren’t very crowded, and the weather was perhaps just a bit warm in the afternoon, but very tolerable.  Everyone, it seemed, was at least civil…many held doors open, stepped out of the way for others, and so on.  I think the lack of a huge crowd makes everybody’s day a little better.

We stopped at several booths and visited a bit.  The Goodland vocational school just recently became affiliated with Fort Hays State University, and we visited with the woman there about that, as we had lived in Goodland for some years…and also, my wife went through that same thing with WSU Tech when it became affiliated with WSU a few years back.  We stopped at a booth where there was a company whose owner we knew from the time our older son was in elementary school.  He wasn’t there, but we had a good visit with those who were there.

We stopped at the Hesston College booth and found out that the traditionally two-year college is now offering bachelors degrees as a four-year institution.  We visited about that as well.  And we stopped at the Harper Industries booth and visited with the guys there about Dew Eze products.  Look that up on line if you’re unfamiliar with that.  It’s a great success story of an entrepreneur who made good.  And we knew the entrepreneur and his family.

Yes, we saw the butter sculpture.  Yes, we saw the largest pumpkin and the largest watermelon.  Yes, we rode the train.  Yes, we rode the sky ride.  Yes, we stopped at the channel 12 booth.  And yes, we got ice cream under the grandstand…and while we were there got cold water from the Temperance Union water fountain…which has been at that same location under the grandstand for many decades and has that same little animated man turning the pages of a booklet extolling the virtues of temperance.

We didn’t get to the midway, the giant slide, or the Old Mill.  But we did get to the food court where the wife got her chicken & noodles and I got my catfish.  We heard a ventriloquist give  his schtick and wandered through various buildings.  We got a funnel cake, fried cheese curds, and lots of water.

Then today, work has been a bit different.  The day began with meeting a young Spanish couple who had two small children whose electric had been shut off the day before.  They didn’t speak English.  A good friend of mine who works for the health department to find services people could access to meet their needs came with them and interpreted.  He works as a day laborer, finding daily work wherever he can.  She is a stay-at-home mom.  Mainly because of the small kids, we gave enough to the electric company that they got their power turned back on today.

I don’t know how the future will go for them, but at least for now the kids have electric service and the parents have one less thing to worry about.

A short time after that, I got a call from a woman staying at a motel with her two teen children, one girl and one boy.  She was divorced from her abusive husband some months ago, is 6 months pregnant, and had been staying in the motel with her kids off and on for the past several months.  She applied for a housing voucher months ago and just now was informed that she could pick it up tomorrow, and she also has a house she can move into once she actually receives the voucher.

She has no transportation.  Her kids attend West High School.  She works at McDonalds just up the street from the motel.  She generally makes enough each week from her job to pay for a week of motel with a little left over.

She called because she hadn’t been able to work recently, and her motel room ran out.  She only needed one more day until she could get the housing voucher.  If she had to move out, because she had no transportation, she couldn’t have stayed in her car…they would have been on the street somewhere.

We normally don’t do motels, but something told me that she was genuine and really needed the help.  I went to the motel, paid for the room for a day, and gave her a little cash to get by with groceries until her food stamps came in on Monday.  I also gave her information on our food pantry and a couple more places where she might be able to access services.

So, this day has been very different from the day before.  Instead of seeing the largess and excess in society…the ice cream, the fried Oreos, the Pronto Pups, and all the rest, I’ve seen the other side…the need.  And it really makes one stop and think…and pray both a prayer of thanksgiving as well as a prayer for blessing for those in need.

May you be well, physically, emotionally, and spiritually this day.  May you be generous.  May you demonstrate a genuine love for your neighbor.  And may you be washed in the grace of God this day.

 

Blessings.