visitation yesterday. Pop and I had 2 assignments, the first one wasn’t home. The second one was to a young couple that recently joined the church. The wife’s father is a pastor of a church in Florida and had called asking our pastor if we could do anything to help them with food/diapers, etc. Apparently he has been helping them but is running out of money. The wife is pregnant and is due around the first of the year with their second child, they have an 18 month old as well.
I hadn’t met them before, so many new members it’s hard to know them all. They were home but the wife had already gone to bed with the 18 month old. I knew right away that the husband was recently in the military, he used Sir a lot. He did 2 tours in Iraq with the army as a gunner (supposed to be a diesel mechanic but hey, you know how the Army goes). He doesn’t think that he will be called back because he only has 6 months left on his contract, whatever that means.
Anyways, he’s working but they are strapped because she can’t work. They have no insurance but are using the county’s system, so she is getting some prenatal care, very important. Seems like the military should have something but I guess not. They are trying to move to a cheaper place but from the looks of the complex they were in it’s hard to imagine that.
One of the reasons I like to go with Pop is that every week is not only family time but it is a training session for me. He gently asked about the struggles and asked if it would be okay for the church to send over some groceries and diapers. The young man didn’t hesitate and accepted graciously. I knew then that he was in dire straits, one of the hardest things for a man to do is to accept charity. Especially a young, proud military vet. So, it was a good visit, he gets help and I get training. You wouldn’t think I would need training at this point but I’ve got to overcome years of selfish behavior. Believe me, I’ve received far more blessings from reaching out to others than I would have ever imagined.
After our official visits were done, we split up to go home. I decided to call a class member and see if I could drop by. His wife had asked another lady to ask me to do this, I suppose I should’ve done it on my own, should’ve seen the need. So I called and he said sure, come on over. We talked for about an hour and a half. Actually, he talked for most of that time and when he wasn’t talking, his wife was. So, I guess you could say I’m learning to listen. He’s one of those guys that are soft spoken, shy and what we probably call nice. But behind closed doors, I suspect that he terrorizes his family. Gonna need to help him over time, that stuff doesn’t just go away by itself. Perhaps I’ll give him a copy of No More Christian Nice Guy, he kinda fits the profile.
Man, there are a lot of hurting people in the world.
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