Stories by robcpayne (4 matches)

Turning Their Trash Into Our Treasure

Expert yard sale shoppers often say, “One person’s trash is another’s treasure.” Our yard sale was a couple of weeks ago and we were blessed to have lots of friends donate lots of things. On “Sale Saturday,” I opened the garage door at 5:30 a.m. to start moving the empty tables out so I could fill them with merchandise. I listened for Marcy on the monitor until Kara arrived at 8:00 a.m. to watch Marcy so I could be free to care for customers shopping the yard sale. By then I had everything out and organized and had already sold half a dozen things. We had a steady stream of people all day.   Things started slowing down around 1:00 p.m. or so.  I'm guessing we sold a little over half the stuff we had available for sale. Marcy wanted to keep leftovers to put them in future yard sales, so I packed them ... Read Full Story >>

1898 Reads

A Commitment to the Gift of Food

We have an online dinner calendar where we have a slot for “Empty Nesters”. They are the Sunday School class from ClearView Baptist church which has brought us supper every Thursday night for four years now. That’s a really long time to do something for someone else every week. They invite us to their fellowship functions and to their Sunday School class. And usually at least one member will come to our fundraisers. Though not the leader of the class, Kelvin may be our biggest cheerleader. He comes every month without fail and every month brings a trunk full of groceries for our pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. The last few months, as the economy has worsened, we have drawn heavily from Kelvin’s groceries. Last Sunday Kelvin brought us a surprise, even though it wasn’t his week (or day) to bring anything. He said when he brought groceries last time, he had said a little prayer when he ... Read Full Story >>

1750 Reads

Franklin's City Employees Find An Extra Way To Help

A new friend, a city insider, recently forwarded a segment of an email sent by Franklin's 'City Administrator': “I thought it would be nice to share with you how our employees are helping a family that is experiencing tough times and struggling to feed four children ages 3-16. Jennifer Woods, in purchasing sent an e-mail to her co-workers about a family struggling during this time in our economy. The staff in Utility Billing immediately stepped up to buy 2 carloads of groceries, Easter baskets and clothes for the kids. “Our Building Maintenance staff also donated $250.00 and groceries. More food and money were also donated from Solid Waste and from the Franklin Police department." According to Jennifer, the mother of the family called the City of Franklin employees ‘her angels and heroes.’ “We are proud of our staff and their giving spirit. This is a true example of excellence, innovation, teamwork, integrity and being action oriented." “Thanks to all of ... Read Full Story >>

1631 Reads

A Strong Intention to Help

Imagine yourself unable to speak, unable to move anything but your eyes, unable to even take a breath on your own. Now imagine that you’ve been that way for seven years. Would you be able to think of anyone other than yourself? Marcy celebrated her birthday recently. Friends and family were kind enough to remember and sent a little money.  Almost all our money goes to pay family bills. But birthday money is different. Somehow, we give ourselves permission to spend “our” birthday money on ourselves. The kids buy whatever gizmo, CD, or piece of clothing they have wanted. I usually put my birthday money towards bills – it’s a selfish way to relieve my mind. Here’s how Marcy wanted to spend her birthday money: On her first non-emergency trip out of the house in weeks, fighting through so much pain that she is now on a morphine pump, she led me to Aldi Foods to ... Read Full Story >>

1351 Reads



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