The Givers Receive and Receivers Give.

End of the month.  Raining.  Nail Day - all on the 31st.
About an hour before Nail Day started I heard a HUGE thunder clap and BOOM.  Within minutes, the rain started. Not a gentle shower, but a pounding down rain.

I hear from long-time San Franciscans that most winters include a rainy season - where storms slip in and out of the week, often with sunshine and warm sun in between.

As we were getting ready for Nail Day (what a CA-RAZZZZEEEE time it was....50+ students from Bethel School of Ministry were getting ready to leave after a week-long visit serving YWAM, having fun in SF and loving LOTS of people).  Bags, pillows, more bags, random hoodies and backpacks were scattered everywhere. Our team of 12 or 13 volunteers and staff is trying to move tables, chairs, art supplies, coffee and snacks.  Setting up 10 nail stations with everything needed. Scooting back and forth between the kitchen and office and the huge, high-ceilinged Ellis Room where Nail Day happens.
Outside, it is pouring rain and the women are starting to gather.  Covered with umbrellas, jacket hoods, plastic bags and random pieces of cardboard, women waited patiently.  Suddenly, the Bethel students left - running through the rain to their waiting bus.  Various YWAM staff scattered upstairs, outside or back into the office and dining room.  We gathered in a circle to pray and assign jobs for the afternoon.

Then, the door opened. Women filed in, dripping and peeling off wet jackets. shaking umbrellas. Making sodden piles of stuff where, a few minutes before, the Bethel students' stuff had been.

Let the good times begin.  With the rain and cold, some women came and stayed the entire afternoon.  The art table was buzzing - everyone was making beautiful cards with affirming words on the inside.  A few pool players tried their hand at the tables.  Every nail station was full as women talked and chose their favorite colors. A few soaked and exhausted souls just curled up in chairs or put their heads down on a table and fell asleep. 

The coffee was hot and the cookies were BIG and chewy.  The entire afternoon was gentle. Peaceful.  Soft music gave a spa-like feel to the room. The buzz of conversations broken then and again by laughter.

I had found some cute little stamps at a craft store and went around stamping people's hands and speaking prophetic words about the beauty of their hearts or shining suns or smiles.

At the end, after all the women had left and cleanup was done, the volunteers gathered to share and encourage.  One beautiful woman, J. has been volunteering regularly since fall.  She is a gentle soul with particular gifts in listening closely to others and caring.

This was her last Nail Day.  When asked "What have you come away with from volunteering." She replied, "I was afraid of the transgender people when I first came. I didn't know what to expect.  But, I tell you the truth, I have never met such accepting people anywhere. Not at work or even in my church. I've never felt so accepted just as I am as I have been here by these women."