Spotlight: an Uber driver

Stiff, cranky, and tired, I wheeled our luggage, alongside my weary fourteen-year-old cancer warrior, through the automatic door of the Proton Center as the sky was darkening. We had crossed the finish line of his first week of radiation for brain cancer, and had anticipated a relaxing weekend back at home. But our transportation service was not able to locate a driver and so after 3 ½ hours of waiting, we needed to return to the Ronald McDonald House.

Our Uber driver cheerfully introduced herself. With an unexpectedly radiant smile, Chandra shouldered the burden of our bags. And as we began to drive across town, the bright ray of her sunshine from the driver’s seat brought the light I needed in the backseat to reframe my frustration. I found the knots of stress loosening from my shoulders as I absorbed her encouragement, and gratitude began to replace my grumbling. With genuine interest in Daniel, she inquired how he was feeling. She told him—in all of his baldness—that he looked beautiful, and with her transferable joy she communicated how “for us” she was.

“We’re in this together,” she exclaimed, after hearing that Daniel had three more tough weeks of radiation ahead. “You’re going to do great!“

And as we exited the sanctuary of her car, she even offered to drive us two hours home the next day, free of charge, if our transportation service didn’t come through.

Mother Teresa said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

When discouragement tried to drag us down, we rode the ripples of Chandra’s compassion.

Jodie Pine shines a spotlight on the compassion of an Uber driver towards her cancer-warrior son on Begin Within Gratitude Series.

Spotlight: a school bus driver

Her kindness brought back memories of Daniel’s school bus driver Dionne, who half a year earlier had demonstrated a similar kind of care. From his first day on her bus I knew he was in the best of hands. She took him under her wing just like he was her own. She internalized his needs and would not let him off the bus if no one was there to meet him because, with his memory struggles, he would get lost walking home.

Before Daniel’s cancer diagnosis last January, we had seen concerning declines in his health, but we were in the dark as to what was going on. Dionne’s motherly sensors were up and right in line with what he needed. One morning, when he was mounting her bus steps, she realized that he needed a change of clothes and discreetly let me know. He was then able to exit the bus without making a scene.

Serving as a bus driver was much more to Dionne than simply getting kids from one point to another. The eyes of her heart were attentive to the needs of all those middle schoolers under her care. She affirmed the dignity of each child on her bus, but especially those with special needs.

My heart wells with gratitude to remember the way Dionne’s inconspicuous ripples of changing the world reached us just like our Uber driver Chandra’s did.

In All Shall Be Well, Catherine McNiel writes:

This is the ongoing circle of faithfulness: We hold each other up when we think we can’t go on. We give of ourselves not only to meet our own needs but also to create life for others. And these others keep us going in turn, bringing us meals during a crisis, offering prayer and guidance during tough decisions, sitting with us when we cry in times of grief–being together, in all seasons.
Physically, emotionally, spiritually–the load is too heavy for any one of us to bear. But when we look out for each other, taking on each other’s burdens, the load becomes lighter. We can make it, together. When we all share the weight, there is strength enough–and joy abounds within the labors as well.

I’m grateful for God’s unexpected gifts, through these life-giving-burden-bearing drivers, to show us just how much we’re in this together.

Meet Jodie Pine

Jodie Pine, a writer, speaker, soul care nurturer, social justice advocate, and mother of a cancer-warrior who spent twenty years ministering in China, writes for Begin Within Gratitude Series.

Since her family returned to the US 6 years ago after 20 years of ministry in China, Jodie has transitioned to a role of shepherding global women as they re-enter their passport countries. She has also pursued writing, speaking, soul care, and social justice. Her youngest son’s cancer journey last year created unexpected ways of connecting with Jesus’ suffering, marveling at the hope of His resurrection, and growing deeper in gratitude for the love and support of His Body here on earth.

Where to find her . . .

Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.

My vision for this gratitude series is to help others embrace a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only their own life, but the lives of their neighbors as well.

If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.

Creating Ripples

If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.