A Pie for the Deacon’s Wife
52 Wednesdays for the Deacon’s wife
You know what amazes me most about this story? The fact that someone committed herself for a year. A gesture done once is great. But a weekly gesture – fifty-two of them? Now that’s commitment and caring.
I have never forgotten the story, even though I heard it a quarter of a century ago. It was the daughter of the deacon’s wife who shared it with me. I think you’d like to hear the story, too.
Somewhere in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, there was a country church experiencing conflict. This church wasn’t much different from any other church because there were people in that church. And where there are people, there is sin. With sin comes conflict, resulting in pain, hurt, and anger. It’s a shame to have to say that these things happen, but they do. Where God is working, we need to reckon that the devil will be working hard, too. So in the course of the conflict in this church, hard feelings abounded. The deacon’s wife was the Sunday school teacher for the young mother’s class in this church. It was challenging, because some of the members made their dislike for her evident.
No one wants to be disliked or unwanted, and this deacon’s wife was no different from anyone else. She struggled with feelings and emotions. In the midst of her tears, she prayed. Even though she wanted to, she didn’t quit teaching that Sunday school class, but it was hard.
Serving up Love
Somewhere else in that same part of the county, there was another woman who knew about that pain. I’m sure she prayed. And then, no doubt influenced by God, she decided to put hands and feet to her prayers. What amazes me is that this woman committed to being, not a short distance sprinter, but a long distance runner.
Who was that someone? Nobody knows. But we all know what she did and how God used what she did to bring healing to a troubled, broken heart.
The deacon’s family lived in the country, just across the hill (but out of sight) from the house where her sister-in-law lived. Neither woman could see the other’s house from her home.
One Wednesday morning, the sister-in-law walked up the road from her house and delivered a freshly made pie to the deacon’s wife. She didn’t have any answers for the questions she was given.
No, she did not make the pie. No, she couldn’t tell her who had sent it. She was merely the delivery person for someone who chose to remain anonymous.
A year of love served up in pies for the deacon’s wife
For the next year – every Wednesday, to be exact – the mystery deepened. Every Wednesday, a fresh, warm pie was delivered to the door of the sister-in-law. The sister-in-law, in turn, delivered the pie to the house on the other side of the hill. When Wednesday arrived, the middle-school daughter of the deacon’s wife wondered what kind of pie was on the menu. Every Wednesday, they wondered if the gift would continue.
The deacon’s wife had nine children. Only the youngest of the family lived at home. Older children were enrolled in Eastern Mennonite High School or Eastern Mennonite College and came home on weekends. I am sure there were times they got to enjoy the homemade pie that delivered that week.
Flavors of love and pies for the deacon’s wife
The deacon’s family never knew from week to week what kind of pie would show up, for there was a great variety throughout the year. The deacon’s wife asked everyone she could think of if they were responsible for the pies; but the mystery was never solved. It didn’t need to be. In time, she quit asking people; she quit trying to figure out who had made the pies.
A measure of healing through the pies
With every pie, a measure of healing and grace wrapped itself around the heart of the deacon’s wife. The unsolved mystery became a precious demonstration of how God uses others to pour His enabling grace into the hurting lives of others. I am touched most that not just one pie was delivered. Someone cared enough to make a fresh pie every week for fifty-one weeks in a row. Then, on the last Wednesday of that year of the pies, the deacon’s wife received a cake instead. That day was her birthday.
Somebody cared enough to became the hands and feet of Jesus. Through those pies, the wife of the deacon – and her family – found healing and grace.
Unsolved mystery
The mystery was never explained. The person who made those pies and the sister-in-law took the secret with them to their graves. It doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that somebody somewhere cared and gave grace. Because of grace, somebody else found healing and peace.
There’s another unexplained mystery. That mystery is the sacrificial love of a Savior. Our Savior cared enough to become like us so we could become like Him.
Credits: photos taken by Marcia Brenneman
- Photos taken by Marcia Brenneman
- Pies made, baked and served at The Casselman Inn and Restaurant, Grantsville, Maryland
