Yesterday I did something somewhat unusual (for me.) In an effort to get more exercise, I walked to the grocery store and carried the groceries home. I used to do that over 20 years ago when I lived in Boston and didn't own a car, but I rarely do it here in Colorado. Buying groceries for my family of five people usually involves more bags of groceries than I can physically carry at once.
This time, I bought only things on special sale and had just 2 bags, probably about 15 pounds of groceries. And boy, did my arms hurt by the time I got home! Seriously--ouch.
All over the world and in many developing countries, women walk and carry food. In most cultures, carrying food and water is women's work, and it consumes A LOT of their time. People who live in Haiti (and many other countries) don't need gyms because the daily tasks of life involve a lot more walking and carrying than life does here.
So in addiition to carrying a physical burden recently, I also find myself carrying a heart-burden for my friend Ross Harrop. I talked about Ross in one of my very first blog entries. Ross is the biggest smack-talker in the world, ever. Somehow he has turned this talent for being a goofball into a career managing the finances of our church. (I know, go figure!)
Here is an antic typical of Ross. A few weeks ago, our family of five was late to church. (Ahem, we won't talk about WHO made us late.) My husband Ralph dropped us off at the church front door so we could miss as little as possible while he parked the car and walked in even later than the rest of us. Ross saw Ralph coming in late, and made a huge spectacle of it. He rushed over, pumped Ralph's hand and exclaimed in a loud voice, "HELLO! WECOME! You must be a newcomer to our church! We start at 10:30 a.m." Now, we have known Ross for about 14 years so we expect this kind of garbage from him, but that is just a very mild example of the type of stunts he pulls all the time.
The thing is, Ross also has the most gigantic heart ever, and he has been my biggest cheerleader in the whole Pound4Pound Challenge. Ross said he will pay me five dollars a pound for every pound I lose. Not even my mother has promised me $5 a pound! So right now, he owes me about $100 towards building the houses in Haiti.
The thing is, Ross just had a huge heart attack on Thursday and nearly died. His wife Jill (long-suffering woman that she is) is a nurse and got him to the hospital in time. He ended up having triple by pass surgery with a 95% blockage in one artery. Ross is only 55 years old, and his son had just gotten married a few days before he suffered the heart attack. Ross and Jill were in Florida for the wedding, so now that he is beginning the process of recovering, we can only love on him and pray for him long distance.
We are praying for you Ross. I mean it. We are. I physically get down on my knees for you every day.
But you still don't get out of paying me the $100 for the Haiti Houses, you big turkey.
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