Most office workers start their busy daily routines early in the morning, work in various capacities at their jobs during the day, and then head home to rest in the evening. But I make deliveries around Incheon at dawn, work a part-time job as a parcel assistant during the day, then handle parcel pickups from late afternoon onwards. On my way home, I move heavy furniture purchased on Carrot Market. Working when others rest is tough, but on the other hand, I enjoy the lack of traffic in the early morning and the pleasure of exploring every corner of Incheon. I’m also reminded that many people wake up before dawn, and it seems like the world runs a bit more smoothly thanks to them.

As I travel all over Incheon, exploring neighborhoods and meeting people to deliver packages, I sometimes get to know customers well. One such place is the twisted doughnut shop across from the house I visit daily. After chatting with the grandmother owner, she sometimes gives me twisted doughnuts and red bean donuts at a discount. In return, I help her pack donuts for her relatives into large ice boxes and ship them via personal parcel delivery. She’s a petite grandmother with a sharp, clear way of speaking. At first, I thought she was an employee because there was a young female shop owner. But it turned out the grandmother was the owner, and her daughter was working part-time.

I went once or twice to buy twisted doughnuts, then became a regular customer when I bought frozen twisted doughnuts in bulk for camping trips. It turns out her older brother worked in freight delivery when he was younger, so she understands how tough delivery work is. She’d often make me iced coffee and, when closing up shop late in the afternoon, frequently give me extra donuts as a bonus. Thanks to people like her, I never lost my sense of gratitude while doing delivery work. She must have been called a ‘superwoman’ in her younger days. She insisted that even making a single pretzel required proper training, kneading the dough herself every morning and adhering to a same-day-sale principle. She was a true professional who even developed her own recipes.

Sometimes she wasn’t there; I heard she couldn’t come because her back was bad and she was visiting hospitals and traditional Korean medicine clinics. Standing all day at work seems to have caused her to develop spinal stenosis. When she mentioned needing surgery eventually, I told her I had a used ‘Ggwaekuri’ exercise machine, good for back patients. She wanted to buy it, so I delivered it to her home. Today, while meditating on the passage from Ephesians about God working through all things, I wondered if God moves people in good ways through every circumstance given. So today, I’m heading out again to deliver happiness to the people around me.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:5-6)