Who will cry over your cup of water?
This past Sunday I was very thirsty. I was thirsty in the morning, then thirsty all throughout Sunday School. I was walking down the steps and saw some of the kids grabbing cookie. I grabbed one myself, but darn it, I was still SOOOOO thirsty. The day before we had a long day at Magic Mountain for The Afters and Jeremy Camp concerts, so I know I was a little dehydrated. I grabbed one of the cups that were meant for coffee, went into the kitchen, turned on the faucet, filled up the cup with water, and started crying.
Crying you ask? Yes, I indeed started crying. Getting a cup of water before church made me cry.
And I know the next question is why? Why was I crying over getting a cup of water before church?
Almost 6 years ago I woke up one Sunday feeling sick and with a bad cough. Still, I dragged myself out of bed and went to church. I got there late, so I went through the back entrance. My cough just would not cease. I made it to the Peppertree room (a room adjacent to out sanctuary). I was sitting in that room, all alone, listening to the sermon, coughing and coughing.
I don’t know if he heard me or saw me, or maybe he just happened to be walking around, but suddenly Steve Ruckman walks into the Peppertree room. He asks if I’m OK. I explained to him how I woke up sick, and since my cough won’t stop I was just going to stay in that room and listen to the sermon.
Steve, being the sweetest man that he was, went all the way to the kitchen to get me a cup of water. He also gave me Pastor Candie’s notes on the sermon. He stayed there with me till the end of the sermon, and he even brought me a second cup of water.
Lately a lot of memories of Steve have come to mind. Like when I was so angry and upset at my dad, and all Steve could do was play with the zipper of my hoodie and call me Goofy (it was my Goofy sweatshirt). Or when I was doing the “Trading my sorrows” dance at the back of the church and he told Katie to do it with me, and then he did it with me, so here we were, us 3 idiots at the back of the church doing the “Trading my Sorrows” dance. He always noticed the little things: when I was or wasn’t at the service, when I hadn’t picked up my offering envelopes, stuff like that. He would scold us too. One time Brie and I were getting the Student Auction stuff done, and we were in the office at the beginning of service. He came into the office and asked why were not inside the sanctuary. We told him we had to get the Student Auction stud done. He was not happy with that and he said, “And you couldn’t get here earlier to do that so you wouldn’t miss service?” He had a valid point!
He always could make you laugh. Always! Always! Always! He always had a funny comment. When David left and I came in to help George out he pointed at me and asked, “Where did you get this one from?” George, being a funny man himself, replied, “I don’t know. I just pulled her from outside. She was walking by and I said, ‘Hey, wanna help?’ And he just came right over.” Steve, being the sweetie that he is, said, “You picked a good one; she’s always ready to help.”
A regret of mine is that I didn’t spend much more time with Steve. He was such a great guy, and I’ve been missing him SOOOOO much. Like I said, I’ll be sitting here and just remember something that he did that brings a smile to my face.
And it’s funny, he never really did what you would call something big, like a big sacrifice or a huge favor or anything like that. It was all small things, but they are still part of my memory and still bring a smile to my face.
Sometimes I get like that with Jared too. I’ve talked about Jared before, but I just wanted to point out how it was always little things that I remember. For example, when he IMed me to cheer about the Angels winning, then asked about my surgery saying how he knew it was postponed because Kendra told him and he keeps up with me because “I care about you.” Or when he heard my voice from David’s office and came running inside to give me a hug. Or when he IMed me and was making fun of for having a SN of “BSBSongWriter” but having all Angels icons and backgrounds.
Yeah, see, it’s the little things that I remember, those little things that still bring a smile to my face. So, it made me think, people really do notice the little things.
This point got proven a bit further. At church Ian, one of our Worship Leaders, came up to me with his wife (also on the worship team) and wanted to thank me for always singing along to all the songs. They noticed that? I was kinda shocked. Two Sunday’s ago Josh, also from the worship team, came up to me and said, “I saw you getting into the music and worshiping in the balcony.” Then his mom (also in the worship team), told me how she loves seeing me smile and sign along and worship to the music. I never, ever thought they could even see me. But again, this was something small but FOUR people noticed.
Last Sunday Pastor Candie came up to me and told me she loves my reaction to her sermon. She loves when I nod or sees me writing something down, or even mouth, “Yes! Amen!” Again, little things, but she saw them and it made at least of an impact for her to comment on them and say how she loves that.
My point is this. The little things DO matter; it’s the little things that you do that are important and that people will remember. When I die, will someone remember the time I said I cared about them? Will they be grateful for the time I made them laugh when they most needed it? Will they get a smile when they remember the time I made a fool out of myself dancing in the back of the church with them? Will someone go get a cup of water and cry remembering when I did the same for them?
Crying you ask? Yes, I indeed started crying. Getting a cup of water before church made me cry.
And I know the next question is why? Why was I crying over getting a cup of water before church?
Almost 6 years ago I woke up one Sunday feeling sick and with a bad cough. Still, I dragged myself out of bed and went to church. I got there late, so I went through the back entrance. My cough just would not cease. I made it to the Peppertree room (a room adjacent to out sanctuary). I was sitting in that room, all alone, listening to the sermon, coughing and coughing.
I don’t know if he heard me or saw me, or maybe he just happened to be walking around, but suddenly Steve Ruckman walks into the Peppertree room. He asks if I’m OK. I explained to him how I woke up sick, and since my cough won’t stop I was just going to stay in that room and listen to the sermon.
Steve, being the sweetest man that he was, went all the way to the kitchen to get me a cup of water. He also gave me Pastor Candie’s notes on the sermon. He stayed there with me till the end of the sermon, and he even brought me a second cup of water.
Lately a lot of memories of Steve have come to mind. Like when I was so angry and upset at my dad, and all Steve could do was play with the zipper of my hoodie and call me Goofy (it was my Goofy sweatshirt). Or when I was doing the “Trading my sorrows” dance at the back of the church and he told Katie to do it with me, and then he did it with me, so here we were, us 3 idiots at the back of the church doing the “Trading my Sorrows” dance. He always noticed the little things: when I was or wasn’t at the service, when I hadn’t picked up my offering envelopes, stuff like that. He would scold us too. One time Brie and I were getting the Student Auction stuff done, and we were in the office at the beginning of service. He came into the office and asked why were not inside the sanctuary. We told him we had to get the Student Auction stud done. He was not happy with that and he said, “And you couldn’t get here earlier to do that so you wouldn’t miss service?” He had a valid point!
He always could make you laugh. Always! Always! Always! He always had a funny comment. When David left and I came in to help George out he pointed at me and asked, “Where did you get this one from?” George, being a funny man himself, replied, “I don’t know. I just pulled her from outside. She was walking by and I said, ‘Hey, wanna help?’ And he just came right over.” Steve, being the sweetie that he is, said, “You picked a good one; she’s always ready to help.”
A regret of mine is that I didn’t spend much more time with Steve. He was such a great guy, and I’ve been missing him SOOOOO much. Like I said, I’ll be sitting here and just remember something that he did that brings a smile to my face.
And it’s funny, he never really did what you would call something big, like a big sacrifice or a huge favor or anything like that. It was all small things, but they are still part of my memory and still bring a smile to my face.
Sometimes I get like that with Jared too. I’ve talked about Jared before, but I just wanted to point out how it was always little things that I remember. For example, when he IMed me to cheer about the Angels winning, then asked about my surgery saying how he knew it was postponed because Kendra told him and he keeps up with me because “I care about you.” Or when he heard my voice from David’s office and came running inside to give me a hug. Or when he IMed me and was making fun of for having a SN of “BSBSongWriter” but having all Angels icons and backgrounds.
Yeah, see, it’s the little things that I remember, those little things that still bring a smile to my face. So, it made me think, people really do notice the little things.
This point got proven a bit further. At church Ian, one of our Worship Leaders, came up to me with his wife (also on the worship team) and wanted to thank me for always singing along to all the songs. They noticed that? I was kinda shocked. Two Sunday’s ago Josh, also from the worship team, came up to me and said, “I saw you getting into the music and worshiping in the balcony.” Then his mom (also in the worship team), told me how she loves seeing me smile and sign along and worship to the music. I never, ever thought they could even see me. But again, this was something small but FOUR people noticed.
Last Sunday Pastor Candie came up to me and told me she loves my reaction to her sermon. She loves when I nod or sees me writing something down, or even mouth, “Yes! Amen!” Again, little things, but she saw them and it made at least of an impact for her to comment on them and say how she loves that.
My point is this. The little things DO matter; it’s the little things that you do that are important and that people will remember. When I die, will someone remember the time I said I cared about them? Will they be grateful for the time I made them laugh when they most needed it? Will they get a smile when they remember the time I made a fool out of myself dancing in the back of the church with them? Will someone go get a cup of water and cry remembering when I did the same for them?