I crouched next to the concrete patio, dressed in my slacks, heels, and a scarf that matched my blouse and coat, wishing vainly for a hammer. All I had was a metal rod, and I hoped it would be strong enough to do the job. What option did I have anyway? There was no one around to help me; I took a deep breath.

Brenda,* a shut-in, Bible study drop-offs contact who used to be connected with the church in another state until some sort of misunderstandings pulled her away, she has been warming up to me over the past few visits. Every week I find her sitting in the same chair, facing her apartment's north-side sliding door that opens onto the patio. It seems she sits there most of the time, taking in the never-changing view.

As with my other contacts, I've tried to pay attention to any little clues about her interests; two large bags of birdseed gave that one away, so I asked if she was a birdwatcher. Usually, yes, however she explained that her bird-feeder had been taken down a while back for some repairs to be done to her apartment.

And so it was that I came to be crouched down beside Brenda's concrete patio, dressed in my high heels and matching professional attire, pounding one metal rod into the hard December ground with another metal rod for the bird-feeder pole. Maybe it was an interesting sight; I don't know. Maybe Brenda will enjoy reading her study guides when she is not watching the birds; I don't know.

I do know that it was precisely one week before Christmas, and I realized that sometimes smaller, ordinary, every day gifts of caring can mean more than the most beautifully wrapped package under a tree. Sometimes you don't need to deck the halls, you only need to hang a bird-feeder.

"Logic is one thing and commonsense another..."

So said Elbert Hubbard...what a pity we can't all at least possess one of the two.

The epitome of the word "counterproductive" was walking down the street--literally. She pulled my eyes away from the road in front of me as I maneuvered my car along the street that was being steadily pummeled by relentless raindrops. In the pouring, freezing rain, a woman in her slick, work-out, exercise outfit was ambling down the sidewalk...smoking. Perhaps she assumed that, as long as she was smoking to keep down her weight, keeping a regular rate of speed or a fast-paced walk was unnecessary --and she didn't really have to worry about the cigarettes stealing years from her by means of lung cancer since she was about to contract pneumonia anyway.

Sometimes peoples' logic utterly baffles me, I must admit.

It was about 4:00 p.m. as I pulled my car into one of the many vacant parking spaces at the end of the parking lot for a local business. It was a small neighborhood and I was headed to a house down the street to give a Bible study, however I first needed to get into the trunk and retrieve the lesson guide. The less than busy parking lot won the bid for convenience.

Walking to the back of the car, I saw some people standing up by the building, but (unobservant soul that I am) it went in one brain cell and out with the other. By the time I turned to go back to the driver's door, however, a large dog was walking somewhat parallel to my path, and I turned to see a couple burly men approaching.

"What are you doing here?" One of them asked. The other stood there.

"I just needed a place to park...am I in the way?" Since there were only about 25 other empty parking spaces and no other apparent customers, my car certainly presented a serious inconvenience. I smiled. He didn't.

"Who are you with?" The same one asked. The other one still stood there.

Confusion wrinkled my forehead into a question mark for a second. "Who am I with? Well, I work for the Seventh-Day Adventist church over on ___th Street."

He nodded his head. "Just push along out of here," the same one motioned. Mr. Mute still stood there.

"Alright," I said in as amiable a voice as possible, attempting to offset the rather hostile tone of the conversation.

It struck me as funny since leaving was exactly what I was trying to do if they hadn't detained me to play 20 Questions. It also struck me as incredulous that they, standing and watching me get out of my car in a long skirt and long hair, had labeled me some sort of religious worker; hence they deemed my car in their near-empty parking lot a significant annoyance. And the need for two burly messengers and a beefy pit bull to order a 98 lb. teenager away was, of course, undeniable. I mean, my car is a veritable tank and intimidating, I know, but seriously...

Sometimes peoples' logic utterly baffles me, I must admit.