Post Examples to Inspire or Comfort

[ChristenKaufman]

Hello All…I’m posting this general question in an effort to pick the brains of anyone interested in responding.

First, a preface to set the stage for my question. We all know that we’re living in dangerous times. Each person responds according to their talents and resources, with prayer and action. We raise our eyes to God as the ultimate source of assistance and strength, but must also remember that we, ourselves, are often the tools God utilizes to eleviate suffering in the world. When slapped in the face with seemingly overwhelming troubles (economic crisis, the war, political disappointments) it becomes even more important to re-focus on the fact these troubles are not insurmountable.

Here’s the question: Is anyone willing to post stories of how someone in their home parish has helped meet the needs of another in a very physical, concrete way? Anyone been in a position where they literally “don’t know what to do” and was helped by someone who didn’t have to help, but did anyway?

Many people visit this sight seeking education, advice, and inspiration…Some suffer greatly, and be prone to despair. Others, who are in more stable circumstances, may benefit from ideas of how they can use their talents to serve their brothers and sisters, and be heartened to know that their efforts will in fact make a difference.

Christen

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

Well, i don’t have any personal parish stories to share (yet) but I know that all of the people here at CAF are so wonderful and kind… I know there have to be people like this in our own parishes (we all go to Church somewhere!) so what is really needed is a better way to communicate our needs/services.

 

[elliejanba]

My sister and I always talk about our hero from the Bus. I know it’s not the church. But someone lady on the bus went out of her way to school us on how our conversation went wrong. It meant alot to us.

At my bible study, a woman said her personal experience, that changed the way I viewed my own life.

 

[Ruthie]

I have a story about a good deed. It’s why I never want to move out of “flyover country.”

In 1977, I was traveling from Oregon to Colorado, in my old VW beetle. It was loaded with 2 trunks, my large dog, and two cats. It was winter, and very cold.

I spent the night in Rawlins, Wyoming. It snowed overnight, on top of more snow. I decided to keep going, because my old bug was good in the snow, especially with the load. The freeway had 3 or 4 inches of packed snow on it. There was a big berm on one side, and the median was lower than the road.

I was managing about 20-25 mph, when I came around a curve and was confronted with a very slow semi, who was smack in the middle of the road, There was no room for me to go around.

I backed off the gas and began fishtailing. I tried to control it, but when I was sliding from edge to edge, I let go of the wheel and let her go into the median. (If I had steered away, I would have rolled, faithful hound, kitties and all.)

Down in the bottom, after trying without success to drive out, I pushed my door open, to find I was in about 2 feet of snow. I was looking back towards Rawlins, city kid that I was, wondering how long it would take me to walk back, when…

At almost the same time, two pickup trucks, one headed west, one east, stopped. Two large men in ten-gallon hats and cowboy boots stepped out, waded over to me through the deep snow, asked if I needed help, and pushed me back onto the highway. They did not make fun of me or my predicament. They just smiled and did what it took.

That was my intro to the people of flyover country. Now I live there, and I’m more used to it - but I sure don’t take it for granted!

A similar story - Before we got cellphones, my DH and I went back to Philadelphia to my mother’s funeral. I was driving, it was raining, and I hit standing water just as I was turning my wheel. We spun out, off the highway and down a steep embankment, into deep mud. Again, kind strangers stopped and helped us out, getting muddy in the process.

We were just short of Colby, Kansas. Once back on the road, there was obviously some kind of balance problem with the front wheels, and the brakes weren’t too hot either. So we spent the night in Colby, and went to the local Ford dealer in the morning. They popped the car up on the lift, and returned it to us a few minutes later, charging us an insignificant amount of money to remove mud and grass from the inside of the wheels.

Think of what they could have gotten away with, with us just passing through, grieving, and needing to get back on the road?

God bless honest mechanics, helpful strangers, and the rest of us, too!

Ruthie

 

[Just_wondering]

I was so impressed by my boyfriend’s circle of friends. All of them work six days a week, and earn enough money to barely scrape by. Whenever someone has a family emergency, needs to pay a medical bill, or otherwise can’t handle things financially, he has only to ask, and the others will find a way (borrow money if necessary) to help him out of his trouble. Repaying the money happens whenever it happens, or not at all. What goes around comes around, don’t worry about it. I was amazed that people who have so little will do so much, and yet the people I knew who had so much would never share it. This group of people has inspired me to be a better person.

 

[monicatholic]

2007 was a terrible year for us financially. 2008 was bad, but better. but one day in 2007, I was very worried about groceries. I was worried about not having any groceries and worried I had no goat milk for the baby.

I told my husband. we were just sitting down for family prayer and we asked God for help with finances, and especially with immediate groceries.

my older son came home and said he’d checked the mail. while there was no mail in the box, there was an unmarked envelope with 5 twenty dollar bills. that’s a hundred bucks.

we were amazed and ever so grateful to God and to our anonymous benefactor. we offered many morning prayers for him or her or them.

I made a big sign that said THANK YOU SO MUCH and staked it in the front yard for more than 2 weeks. we hoped our anonymous benefactor saw the sign.