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Helen Reins

Small Beautiful Things

Part of a continuing series celebrating 125 years of St. Paul faithfulness, 1882-2007

Millers

Spring has come to the courtyard at Davenport’s Good Samaritan Home. Helen Reins notices leaf buds on the lilac and crabapple that frame her window. Daffodils are blooming against a warm wall. Her great-granddaughters have poked a whimsical frog garden ornament into the soil beneath her window. As winter wanes, she enjoys the birds that still come to the feeder. She remarks that the birds have stripped bare a pinecone that had been covered with peanut butter and seeds at Christmastime.

At 94, Helen observes the scene outside the window from her wheelchair. She anticipates the big pots of summer geraniums that she’ll help to plant. The screened porch will be just the place for her family — four generations of them — to gather on a warm day.

Her living space is small; her daily view is limited to the courtyard. Yet Helen does not allow circumstances to confine her. Her sharp memory holds onto the things she loves and doesn’t want to lose. With bright attitude, she connects with family, friends, and church — delighting in the small beautiful things that make for a rich life.

Helen’s history is wrapped up in St. Paul history. In 1931, in the old sanctuary at 14th and Main Streets, Helen wed Bill Reins. Dr. J.A. Miller St. Paul senior pastor, 1916-45, associate pastor until 1966 officiated at the wedding. He later baptized the two Reins children, baptized Bill, and visited Helen’s dad when he was ill. “He was a wonderful man, but he was strict. He didn’t believe in having any dinners to raise money for the church.”

As World War II ended, the Reins family officially became St. Paul members. “We watched Pastor Emerson’s family grow up and we got close to them.” Pastor Emerson Miller succeeded his father J.A. as senior pastor, 1945-66. “There were more nice pastors, too, after he was gone,” she recalls. “And when we moved across from Vander Veer Park in 1952, we had so much more room.”

Helen helped in the nursery occasionally, she made cookies for Camp Shalom in its earliest years, and she transported daughter Darlene faithfully to choir.

The church connections continue. Another three generations of Helen’s family worship at St. Paul — daughter Darlene Hart; grandsons Jim Hart and Steve Hart, great-grandchildren Chris Hart and Stephanie and Courtney Hart. In 1996, Pastor Ron Huber officiated at the funeral for Bill, a man of great humor with whom Helen shared 65½ years.

Helen has struck up a telephone friendship with Mary Gordon. During Lent, she followed along with the congregation’s daily devotional reading. She looks forward to the monthly worship services at Good Samaritan led by St. Paul pastors. And on a Thanksgiving outing, the first place the family stopped was at church to show Helen the steel framework for the new sanctuary.

Traces of St. Paul accent Helen’s room. On her door hangs a creation she assembled in Rose Nuernberger’s crafting ministry. A palm branch rests behind a painting of Jesus. A tiny turquoise vase, crafted by a St. Paul child in a Sunday class, holds some flowers.

And every once in awhile, Helen writes a love note to Pastor Marty. She listens to him on the radio on Sunday mornings. “I write and tell him how special that was. And I sent him a birthday card a couple of times.” Pastor Marty shares the same birth date, same year, with grandson Jim.

Said Mother Teresa, “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” In her 10th decade of life, Helen Reins delights in small beautiful things. Photos of a great-granddaughter’s wedding. A flower outside her window. A phone call. Or a loaf of nut bread.

Helen became friends with a girl named Melissa, a student who came to visit with her class from John F. Kennedy Catholic School for a time. “She was getting chemo and she wore a stocking cap. We talked and we prayed together,” says Helen. “At Christmas, she and her mother brought me some nut bread. Her mother said I gave her little girl strength. She helped me too.”

Small. Beautiful. Grace.

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"The first duty of love is to listen." ~Paul Tillich