I Accomplished Something

[yorkieville]

Hi, Everyone.

Well, I wanted to post something a little bit positive. So, I want to tell you about something I managed to get done, with a LOT of help from my friends. And my favorite priest. :)

Back in November, a tragedy occurred. A member of my parish was run down by a 28 year old, uninsured motorist, high on marijuana. She was left for dead.

Her husband, is a Volunteer Fireman and he was the one that responded to the call. Can you imagine?

I will never forget the Thursday morning in November, after mass, in the Chapel that my Pastor told us of the accident.

Tragically, she passed away in December after many surgeries. Her life was taken, cut too short, and her presence is deeply missed.

Her medical bills were astronomical. She was not killed on her property or in her vehicle. She was killed doing the thing she loved to do, walking her dog.

I went to the Visitation, and oddly, as I knelt down to pray, my mind was distracted. I heard this voice. (No, I am not prone to hearing voices....yet.) But this voice in my head said, "This is so wrong, you must do something". And I thought to myself, "Sheila, this lady is dead, there is nothing you can do".

The next morning, as I was working the funeral luncheon, a friend of mine, who is 15 years old, came to me and asked me to help him Co-Chair a Benefit dinner to raise money to help with the cost of her medical bills. Naturally, I said, "Yes".

So, that very evening, he and I sat down, and made lists of our ideas. He put them on a Power Point.

I went to my Pastor with the idea, and met with some reluctance. I was puzzled by it, to say the least. But, I sat down and talked with him and asked him, "Isn't it enough that she died such a tragic death? Isn't that enough for her family to suffer? I was raised to believe when one of our brothers or sisters are in need, we are meant to sacrifice help them."

So, he gave me permission to present the idea to my Parish Life Commission. They were all over the idea! In less than an hour, we had 6 committees drawn up, with lists of everyone volunteering. My young friend went to all the other 5 commissions, recruiting people to sign up to volunteer.

One of our members cousins is quite well off, and he paid 99.75% of our expenses and everything else was donated.

Within 6 weeks, we had the Benefit Dinner, and we made over $5,000. pure profit.

I learned at the end of the Benefit Dinner, my Pastors earlier reluctance. He said he has always had problems with getting the people here to complete things, but when he attended my 1st two meetings, he saw that I had the help I needed, and knew it would get done.

It not only helped this family financially, but they learned just how much their Parish Family loves them.

Sheila

[Lulu54]

Sheila,
What a wonderful way to get outside of yourself and help this family.  Know you have done something special, and by sharing it here perhaps more of us will do the same.  

be well,
Lulu

[doni54]

My Sweet Sheila,

You are one of God's Angels, and I already knew that!  Now others know what an extremely special person you are!!

Loads of love & hugs,
doni

[yorkieville]

Hi, B.

Thank you, that is the nicest thing you could say about me.

I love people and I wish I was healthy so I could do more.

Sheila

[yorkieville]

Hi, Quix.

Thank you. I hope my story will show everyone, that there is hope. There are so many good people in the world and there is someone that will help them.

Being active in the church has actually helped me, to take my mind off of my own problems.

Sheila

[yorkieville]

Hi, Maggie.

I  agree, I believe this is what it means to be a Christian.

I was so thrilled, Don came to the Fish Fry with his daughter and granddaughter Friday night and came over to my Bake Sale table with a big smile and a hug for me. I was so happy to see him smiling. I hope Mary Lou is smiling down on us from Heaven and seeing that we are comforting her family.

Hugs & Prayers,
Sheila

[yorkieville]

Hi, Pastor Dan.

I firmly believe, each of those Bible passages.

It has made an amazing difference in my life to be out of bed and back at church.

I no longer think about the pain so much. I know "It's on the day I've been given".

Sheila

[yorkieville]

Hi, Sam.

I truly believe what you learned in church yesterday morning.

I have to tell you, the people in this parish are incredible! They are so generous! They never hesitated to jump in and offer to work.

I've only been here 5 months, and I wasn't sure how well they would receive the idea.
I've made so many very close friends in the parish. They are like family to me.

I am not very active in my personal life, but I use my "good times" to volunteer. I work every funeral luncheon. My Altar & Rosary Society provides the luncheons, free to the families of each member that passes away. I am in charge of the Dessert table and as the donations come in, I cut all the desserts and I have several wonderful ladies that set them out on the buffet table.

My husband & I work the Friday night Fish Fry's. I sell donated dessert at my Bake Sale table and he washes pots and pans. I come home in pain physically, but my heart feels good. :) I feel like I am uselful in a small way again.

Sheila

[yorkieville]

Hi, Julie.

When my friend came to me, the next morning and asked me to hep him, I understood the voice in my head.

I think, even the smallest gesture we make to-wards someone, can make such a difference in their lives.

Sometimes, just a smile can change someones' day. I know, because years ago, I was very depressed one day, my only son was away, Peacekeeping with the Military and I walked into the grocery store and the cashier looked me right in the eye, and smiled this big smile and asked me sincerely, "ho are you today?' I felt so much better! I left there, smiling.

Sheila

[yorkieville]

Thank you. :)

Sheila

[nabb1]

You are a gift and a blessing as a person. Thank you for your example of the purest form of love.

B

[Quixotic1]

What a wonderful, deeply moving example to everyone.  Thank you for telling us about that.

Quix

[LLWB]

What a wonderful tribute to your friend, and gift to her husband. Your love and compassion, and all the others who helped, really shine thru. This to me is what being a Christian is all about, but sometimes so seldon is. You can rest tonight knowing that his hardships will be a little less.

Hugs & Prayers
Maggie

[PastorDan]

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Cor.%2015:58;&version=47;

[uk2]

Sheila, its sunday night here in the uk and this morning in church we were just hearing about how we can die to self and give some how to others and it can be in the simple way like our time in voulteenring or a simple kind wrod.

what you did was act from your heart you gave your time and thoughts both of you and all of you who were envolved, you heard and you acted on it many would of ignored that thought (voice from god what ever you people want to say it was) but you didnt you acted.

an amazing job shelia and what a wonderful church to be in like mine more of a family tome then my family!!

sam

[Sarahsmom46]

It is a good thing you listened to that inner voice.  Look what you helped accomplish!  

This is really an inspiring story and I hope we can all learn something from it.  I learned that no matter how big or small a gesture may seem, any intention to do something good in memory of someone else, is worth doing.  Thank you for sharing this beautiful experience with us.

Julie

[saveone]

good story :)