The Story of a Basket

Here is the basket. It is a basket full of gift items. It contains a teddy bear, cosmetics, candy, chocolate, gift cards from Bealls and

Wal-Mart, a journal, pens, crossword puzzle books, and teen magazines. Behind it is a hand-crocheted lap blanket.

This basket traveled with four Smalltown church women to the home of a teenager named Rhonda. Rhonda was badly injured in a car accident by a drunk driver last August in a nearby town. Since the accident she has been unable to walk or attend school. She completes schoolwork at home, in between physical therapy sessions. Her mother is divorced and works full time. She takes care of Rhonda with the aid of family members. Talk about stress.

When we took the basket to Rhonda's house, it was hard to see her sitting in the wheelchair with that ugly scar on her leg. Maybe it was hard for Rhonda to see us seeing her, too. It was difficult to tell how she felt about receiving the basket full of gifts. Her three-year-old niece McKayla immediately adopted the teddy bear, however. She ran around the house hugging the soft animal the whole time we were there.

The trip to the house with the basket needed to happen, although we were confronted there with how monstrously unfair life can be. Discipleship, in the sense of literally following Jesus to places He might go, can be hard work and risky business. It is not always appreciated.

But I would not live any other way.