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Every day: Treasure builds in the heart
Opinion by ROB PAYNE
For Williamson A.M.
''For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'' (Mt 6:21)
When it first came to me that I would have to leave my job to care for Marcy, I went to my Quicken computer software and calculated budgets.
As I was wondering how to make enough (and how to not spend as much) to keep us afloat, a neighbor suggested that we ask friends to help with our finances. She said that each month her family gives to ministries outside the church. She considers what I do for Marcy a ministry and that she would like to contribute monthly, if it would help.
Of course, my logical mind kicked in.
I calculated that if x people contributed x dollars per month, we would be able to stay in our house, pay for medicines and give our children as normal a life as possible. We asked family and a few friends about it and posted the request on Marcy's Web site. People started giving, but not the way I planned.
It isn't x times x that gives.
Some of our friends must have set it up in their budget planning: They give exactly the same amount the same day of each month. An ex-neighbor sends different amounts, sometimes a month apart, sometimes a week apart. It's obvious she is sending what she can. Sometimes we receive some larger, one-time contributions, many anonymously, many from strangers. And sometimes, it's $10 here and $15 there.
All in all, God has provided through the hands of these caring people.
I have often thought that if a friend asked me to contribute to them, what would I think? I say to myself, ''I would do that.'' But then I think: When have I ever done that? I was an income-earning member of society for 30 years. I have given to church, I've given stuff I didn't want anymore to the Salvation Army, but did I ever send cash to a needy family?
It's not like I didn't know of any. It wouldn't take turning too many pages of this newspaper to find a dozen.
Thankfully, our 9-year-old daughter, Darcy, has her mother's heart.
We've been careful not to alarm the kids about money. They are still able to go to movies with friends, play organized sports, go to art classes and Scouts, and do many of the things they did before Marcy's diagnosis. We qualify for reduced-price lunches at school and use that program, but neither they nor their friends know we get them at a reduced rate.
Last Sunday Darcy handed me a five dollar bill and three ones.
I asked, ''Where did you get this?'' I thought it might be change from one of her excursions.
''We had a fund-raiser for Mommy,'' she said, and she turned to leave the room.
Darcy had gathered six of her friends none older than 9 and raked leaves for a few hours for our next-door neighbor.
In one way, Darcy's $8 will not be here very long. It will be gone the next time she goes to a movie. But in a more important way, Darcy's $8 will never be gone it will always be in our heart.
If you know a family in need, consider sending a little cash. You can do it anonymously or you can share a little about yourself and a time you were in need. Either way, you'll be storing a treasure in their heart.
It's not too late to join us Monday, Oct. 20, 2003, at Mulligans for Marcy, a golf and dinner fundraiser for Marcy's care. Go to www.EveryDayIsPrecious.com for more information.
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