Ben

Ben called this morning.

I have a brother named Ben and a grandson Ben as well, but this was friend Ben. This Ben had a knee replaced a week and a half ago, and he is doing pretty well. He said that his freezer has worn out and they were going to buy a new one.


Would it be possible for me to help his wife get one and get it place. I said he was in luck the pickup was ready to go and was empty, a good combination. I agreed to meet his wife Jan at Home Depot in about an hour.

Modern freezers are pretty light. Part of that is better insulation, and some of us fear it is also because they are poorly made. I am afraid that the first conclusion may easily out weigh the latter.

I bought some straps (I don’t have enough of them) and we loaded the freezer. It says right on the box that it is legal to carry one lying down as long as it lays on its back. Wow that made it pretty easy.

The rest was routine. I moved the old freezer out of the way, offering to take it to the disposal site after Christmas, installed the new freezer, leveled it up and got it all going.

They thanked us and we left. It was one of those things you would do for almost any one, but would be eager to help a good friend.

We drove away about 3 minutes and my cell phone rang. It was Ben. When a customer calls right after I have done a job, I am sure I left a tool, or that something ha gone really wrong, or something equally dark.

It was none of those.

They knew we were planning on going to visit our kids for christmas. Our pickup is quite new, but the trailer is 24 years old, and while it is in pretty good shape, it has not been pulled for a while, and tires wear out faster from not being used than being used. Besides, it needs a few repairs that are off budget, as they say.

They have a newer trailer that they have used to travel a LOT. They work on church building projects as volunteers the trailer is their home away from home. It is a good one, and Ben assured me the furnace works fine. (Ben spent his career as a crack carpenter. We all value his knowledge and expertise).

I told Ben I would have to think about it a bit, but that right now my inclination is to take up his offer.

I have been listening to a book about christian grace. Cathleen Falsani’s “Sin Boldly” which is a quote from Martin Luther that is easy to take out of context. But I thought of grace and how Ben had just offered me a big bucket of the stuff.

Thanks, my friend, not just for the loan of your trailer, but for the lesson in Grace that you and Cathleen have shown me.