Water Delivery - Eleanor Shepherd

           

It was a Wednesday morning, the day when there is usually the least number of employees present at the church.  Just before 8:30 the doorbell rang, and I went down to see who was there.  It was unusual to have people coming to the door that early.  It was the man from the bottled water company who provides the water for our water coolers.  Usually he comes later in the day, but they happened to be passing that morning and thought they would see if anyone was there so they could make their delivery.

           

We headed to the elevator together and went up to the first floor where we store the new bottles, so we could check on the empties.  He brought two bottles with him, knowing from experience that we would need at least that many.  A few weeks ago he told me that each of these bottles of water weigh 45 pounds, so carrying 90 pounds of water, it made more sense to take the elevator than the stairs.  As we go up and down together in the elevator we usually have a conversation.  My problem is that although I am fluent in French, I have a great deal of difficulty understanding his accent, and my guess is that he has as much trouble understanding mine.  Often, I make sounds to indicate agreement, even though I am not exactly sure what it is I am agreeing with, and I hope that I am not making a complete fool of myself.  What further complicates our conversation is that he mumbles as well, so that even if I understood the words he was saying, I cannot really quite hear them.

            That Wednesday morning, we had one of our typical conversations, about the whether and life in general, with me hoping that what I heard and said was in some way relevant to the conversation.  We had a couple of trips up and down in the elevator, as he needed to bring up another couple of replacement bottles.  Then when he finished his delivery, I signed the electronic pad that he gave me with the stylus provided and he headed for the elevator to leave the building.  As he did so, he said clearly to me in French, "May the good Lord watch over you today."  The words were well articulated and I understood every one of them and I automatically responded in French, "And may He watch over you as well." Then he was gone.

            What immediately came to my mind were the words of my husband, during the prayer that we had together before leaving the house after breakfast that morning.  He prayed that we might be aware of God at work in the lives of others who might cross our paths that day.  

            It struck me as rather ironic.  Here was I, the pastor, receiving these words of blessing from the man who delivered our water.  Perhaps there was more going on here than I realized.  How symbolic is it that Jesus so often referred to water.  When He spoke of the Holy Spirit, He identified Him as a source of living water that would spring up in us.  As I reflected on this brief encounter, I knew that Glen's prayer for me that morning had been answered.     

Word Guild Awards
2011

Word Guild Award
2009