By Vicki Scott
I am changing my focus today to a funny situation that happened amid everything. It was a nice break from the turmoil that I was consuming myself with. The Bible says to focus on what is good, and I was not doing a good job doing what the Bible said. I understand why I need to be obedient. Focusing on what is good brings peace and joy. Hopefully, I can project this good in a humorous fashion.
Picture it: 2020, and it was time to vote in the runoffs. The polls for our area were set up at George Wallace Senior Center in Glencoe. We made plans to not serve our hot meals curbside or to the home-bound seniors in order to prevent unnecessary chaos. The kitchen was closed, and everything was locked up tight. Our team took the day off and made room for the poll workers in the voting area.
Our home is exactly two minutes away from the center if there are no interruptions, so my voting station is where I work. I ran some errands and then went to vote. When I arrived at the center, I saw Margaret, one of our senior volunteers. She was working the polls and having a good time.
Margaret saw me and hurried up to meet me. She lives close to Cove Creek Baptist Church, where my husband Alan and I are members. She wanted to know why a car from the sheriff’s department was parked in our church parking lot so often. I proudly informed her that our pastor David Bankson works at the sheriff’s department. She smiled and went back to doing whatever poll workers do. I did what I needed to do and voted and went home.
Later that evening, I was sitting with Alan watching who-knows-what on TV and noticed a missed call. My phone will not ring if it does not recognize the number. The missed call was a Gadsden number, so I called back even though I did not recognize the number.
A man answered and said, “You know I could pick this lock easily if I wanted to.”
I had no idea who was calling, so I quickly checked outside to see where our dogs were and if they were properly monitoring our yard. Alan asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was checking on the dogs. I did not tell him why; this stranger was still on the phone.
A few moments later, I realized that the stranger was our pastor from Cove Creek. He was at the senior center helping close the polls. Someone had asked him to empty the coffee pot, but he could not get past the locked door to the sink. I laughed and told him I could come and help. He said that Glencoe mayor Charles Gilchrist was there and that they would figure something out. He just saw a chance to harass me and took advantage of it!
While Pastor David was on the phone, I told him about Margaret. This gave him someone else to harass, and he hunted her down while I was on the phone. When he found her, he learned she harassed back! A few minutes later, the harassing nature took a spiral downward and our pastor had to get back to work. My stomach was hurting from the much-needed laughter.
One of my errands that morning involved doing paperwork for my mother at a nursing care facility. I cannot see her until next week, so I wanted to make sure she is being taken good care of and receiving as much therapy as possible.
Due to the coronavirus, visitors can only see their loved ones through a window at the facility. I had to sit outside with the case worker and the financial director on the porch in plain sight of the visitors as they visited. I cried the whole time. If the visitors were not crying, they were begging the residents to stop crying. Everyone needed hugs.
Our most vulnerable population, which is our seniors in assisted living and nursing care facilities, are made to suffer with real quarantine situations. They would rather take a chance and see their family and friends but are not given a choice. These facilities will be the last place to have the quarantine lifted. I understand, but I hate it, because I want to see and hug my mama.
Back at home in Glencoe, I was discussing my woes and not focusing on what is good with my darling and patient husband when I noticed the missed call. Thank you, Pastor David, for trying to harass me at just the right time. My God is an on-time God. David talked about making important decisions as he shared the Word at church. God was speaking to me through David.
God is using so many people to lead me where I need to be, and I praise God for all y’all.
Please pray that I keep my focus on what is good and that I make the right decisions this week. We have got visits to make and people to harass. We’re praying for this virus to be obsolete!
Stay safe, y’all!