Crowley, Texas:
Well this year’s jar was a no brainer as to where it needed to go. Yet it seems so small based on the need.
Not long ago someone nearby suffered a fire at their home. Though no one was injured, it was particularly heartbreaking. It started small in the garage, and the fire department from a training station was on scene in a matter of couple of minutes. Upon arrival the fire was still very small and could have been managed, but something happened. What I am not sure, but no water ever made it out of that truck. In the half hour or so that it took for the next unit to respond, the home was almost a total loss.
As they watch their home burn, I will never forget the pain and heart break they suffered. Neighbors were coming out to offer what support they could, not just to see the commotion.
Today we dropped our jar of change, with the few stray bills that find their way into a coat pocket throughout the year. Bills that I don’t bother to put back in my wallet for one reason or another make the Christmas Jar. The wife and I put it and a copy of the book in a Christmas looking box and left it in front of a shell of a home. The front door is of what was a home, (and will be again) had plywood nailed over it and a blue tarp over a hole cut in the roof. No danger of anyone opening the front door on us this year, yet its a bit special too. Just maybe when they are forced to remember the fire, they will also remember a jar. The amount in the jar will not change anything, but the prayer that went with it can.