On Tuesday, Nov 29th, Greg and I just happened to be watching the Dr. Oz show. The episode was about Hunger in American, and how there are family's going hungry right in your hometown. The second family interviewed was from Tulsa, OK. We watched as this family shared their story and then explained that the adults skip meals from time to time so that their children will be able to eat and how their dinner may only consists of celery stalks and cheese cubes. This story was coming from your typical American family that is struggling to make ends meet.
Here is what we recall from their Story: Scott and Misty are the parents of 5 children. When Scott retired from the military (Correction: he decided to leave his job as a Police Sergeant in Arizona to focus on his family), they moved to Tulsa to provide a better way of life for their family of 7. Misty was promised a full scholarship to nursing school in Tulsa. She has already gotten her RN license, but she still has 1 1/2 more years of nursing school to complete. Besides going to school, Misty is a stay at home mom because it's to expensive to provide daycare or after school care for her 5 children if she were to work. Scott works one job and his paycheck basically covers the bills not including food, or other necessities. Scott said in the interview that he could take a 2nd or 3rd job, but then he wouldn't be around to raise his children and he feels that it's his responsibility to be there for them to teach them right from wrong. I can respect that. Of course, there is more to the story, but that was enough to pull at our heartstrings. We knew we had to do something.
Before the segment was over, I was on the computer emailing the Dr. Oz show to see if I could get in contact with this family. I know, this was a long shot, but you have to start somewhere. At the same time, Greg was going through the phone book, but the family couldn't be found. During the interview, Greg and I both noticed that Scott was wearing a City of Tulsa name tag (we are detectives in our spare time) so I emailed two different branches of the City of Tulsa. So, there you have it. Our best chances to get a hold of this family were all via emails that could potentially never get checked. Next, we prayed. We knew that we were being called to help this family so we gave it over to God to make it happen. If this was meant to be then He would open the right doors.
On Wednesday, I received a call from Scott's manager at the City of Tulsa. He got my email! For obvious reasons they do not give out employee info, but he offered to give my name and number to Scott. I agreed and he said he figured I would say that so he had actually given Scott my info about 30 minutes prior to our phone conversation. We were excited, but still hesitant because now we had to wait to see if Scott or Misty would even call us.
On Thursday, after arriving home from work, we noticed we had a voice message from Misty. We played phone tag, but were finally able to talk over the phone for 20 minutes this morning. They are an amazing Christian family that will do anything for their children. I cannot say enough good things about this family and I'm honored to be able to help them out. When I asked Misty's permission to put a gift together for her family she started crying. She said they have been blessed beyond belief since the show aired on Tuesday, and that this was all a great lesson to show her kids that God will provide for them.
The million dollar question - What can we do for this family?
- At the least, Greg and I will go to the grocery store and by them a good amount of food so that their cabinets (and bellies) will be full this month. At the most, we will put this message in front of as many people as we know to see who else would be willing to help us help this family. Our goal is to collect as much money, gift cards, gifts, etc and Greg and I will deliver those items to the family on Saturday, Dec 10th, NEXT WEEKEND. I know, this a total honor system, and another long shot, but if you would like to donate money, then please consider mailing me a check and I will put that toward a cash donation or Wal-Mart gift card for the family. Or, you could purchase your own Wal-Mart gift card for me to give to the family. My thoughts are if we mostly stick to one store (Wal-Mart) then they will be able to get more for their money.
- If you or someone you know own a small business, please consider what you might be able to do for this family such as offer them your goods or services at no charge. I will be contacting a few of my business owning friends soon with my ideas so please don't ignore me. :)
- Any amount of assistance you can provide will be such a blessing to this family. If you only have $5 to give, we will gladly take that to add to anything else that comes in.
- If you would like to help out, please email me at morrison25@cox.net so that we can work out the details.
So, we know that all of this may sound crazy and that it's a long shot, but we are going for it ... and asking for your help. We are putting ourselves out there for God to use us to bless this family. While typing this I've decided to change my "long shot" comment to a "miracle." This is a miracle unfolding right before my eyes and for that I'm grateful to be a part of it.
Matthew 25:35 - "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." (Jesus taught that when we do good deeds for the weak and downtrodden, it's as if we are helping Jesus himself. Here, he makes it clear that he values kindness done to stranger and to those who struggle to make ends meet.)
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