A photo of the smashed window from Lauren’s car.
Inspired by our sermon series on the book of Ruth, “The Kindness of God and Human Kindness,” Lauren Holahan wrote this testimony to share how she experienced kindness from the community God has placed around her at Blacknall.
When I arrived at Christi and Steve Hinkles' house on a recent Friday to pick up my car, I wasn't expecting much. What I found was an interior so clean it looked professionally detailed — not a single shard of the glass that had been smashed through my driver's window was still visible on the floor.
That's the kind of people Christi and Steve are. And it's the kind of community Blacknall has created.
The story started earlier in the week. I'd rented a car for a work trip, which meant leaving my personal car parked in a nearby lot. While I was at a conference in Atlanta, I got a call from Durham Police: someone had attempted to break in, smashing the driver's door window. I couldn't leave, so I did what felt like an uncomfortably large thing — I sent text messages to Blacknall friends in the middle of the day asking if anyone could retrieve a spare key fob from my house, pick up the car, and keep it until I got back Friday.
The Hinkles responded within minutes. They arranged access to my house, found the key, and got to the car before I'd even had a chance to send them its exact location near the car rental location. When the fob didn't work, I encouraged them to give up, thanking Christi and Steve for all the effort they already put in. But Hinkle-style kindness is harder to thwart than that. They went to a nearby auto parts store, replaced the fob’s battery, and drove my glass-filled car to their house.
And then they vacuumed it. When I finally got back to Durham and came to pick up my car from Christi and Steve, it was as if it had been treated by pros.
Goodie's May 31 sermon used the Hebrew word “hesed” to describe this kind of covenant love. It’s the sort that walks right into the middle of a mess and shows kindness we might never expect. And that's what the Hinkles did.
What could have curdled into a week of frustration and hot indignation was replaced by gratitude and became something else entirely: a reminder that I'm cared for by people who show up like that, no questions asked. This form of kindness doesn’t deny insult or injury or even justifiable outrage. It walks right into the middle of it all and starts vacuuming the floorboards.