My friend Verna is a woman with a heart for people and for what God is doing in their lives. I wish I could describe her in detail to you, tell you how her smile defines the wrinkles in her cheeks when she laughs, or how she squeezes your hand when she gets excited to tell you a story, or how she listens with her eyes so you know you are not only being heard, but understood. I wish I could tell you all of those things. But, I can’t. I’ve never met Verna.
I know Verna through my friend Abby who met her in the airport due to a delayed flight. Abby is all about making new friends and she and Verna hit it off right away. Abby told Verna that she was going to Kansas to visit her friend who is leaving to do ministry for a year in eleven different countries. Verna responded excitedly as she told Abby her granddaughter did the same thing. She insisted that Abby tell me she is praying for me and she believes in what the Lord is doing in my life. Abby and Verna chatted about God and ministry and friendship…almost to the point of causing Abby to miss her already delayed flight. As Abby scrambled to gather her belongings and board the plane, Verna screeched, “Wait!” She pulled a twenty dollar bill out of her pocket, the kind that is so wrinkly it’s soft, like maybe it has been through the washer a time or two. She handed Abby the twenty dollar bill and said, “Please give this to your friend, I want to support her.” And then she waved Abby onto the plane with this almost tangible warmth flowing from her waving hand.
I barely had time to hug Abby after she arrived at the Kansas City International airport before she handed me Verna’s twenty dollar bill and began the story.
