Harvey slept in the bed with us for most of the night until he started bothering Amanda and she put him in his crate downstairs.
I directed at church today. 8:30 was hectic but 12:30 went well.
Amanda called during some off-time and told me that her Grandma Bolin(sp?) was not doing well. Grandma Bolin is actually her dad’s aunt, but she was the closest thing he had to a mother growing up. There have been many times in the past few years when everyone thought she’d be going soon, but Karen, Amanda’s mom, said she’s really weak now. Karen and Phil went to go see her.
After I got out of church I headed on home where Kyle and Lorin soon showed up. Amanda called Don, who had picked up the tree and was taking it over in his truck, and we met up with him at the apartment complex where we were taking it.
It was such a cool experience, being able to reach out to a family in need and do something to make their Christmas a little better. I don’t think I’ve gone into details much yet, so here’s the deal.
Konrad and Margie, along with their two kids, Konrad, Jr. (8) and Kody (6) moved down here in February with basically nothing but what they could fit in their car. Konrad worked construction and did well with that for a while until the work dried up. Long story short, he wasn’t able to draw any kind of unemployment and he and Margie have been jobless for some time now.
Lorin overheard their plight while she was at work and talked to the social worker who was handling their case. A couple churches had gotten some money together for them- Port City Community Church had even paid their rent and bills for the month of December.
To give you a little background, here is what I know from when Kyle and I were talking to Konrad. Konrad had led a pretty rough life- heavy metal guitarist playing in bands, drinking, doing drugs and the like. He lost his parents and his sister and through it all, his faith in God. When they got to the point of asking for help, he was asked if he had contacted any churches. He had his reservations, but he went ahead and talked to some. At PC3, he talked to Richie, an associate pastor. They ended up talking for two and a half hours and Konrad was able to identify with a lot of what Richie had gone through.
Skipping ahead, Lorin heard that they were being helped, but the kids were asking about when they were getting a Christmas tree, so she volunteered us to help out in that regard and we all got various tree-things: ornaments, a star, a stand, candy canes.
Anyway, talking to Konrad, he said that he was beyond thankful and it the experience has opened him back up to God, seeing how much a community can come together and care for people they don’t even know. The great thing for us was to be able to experience that and to be God’s instruments, an outreach. It’s the first time in my life where I’ve been humbled by the ability to say that what we’re doing we’re doing in the name of God. It feels so great, and yet it’s not about my feelings, it’s about showing God’s love and compassion.
Anyway, we had a really good time with them. We stayed around for a while as the kids painted ornaments and we all talked and got to know one another. We went home, Kyle and Lorin took off and I, having been up since 5:30, vegged out.
Zach Dotsey