Christmas Might Still Mean Something

The consumersim of Christmas has really gotten to us at che’ Starr over the last few
years. We have even instituted present rules like you have to make them one before
you can buy them one. This time of year is enough to really get to anyone, but
I saw something tonight that really reminds me that there are good people in the world,
right here where I live.

A young family consisting of mom, dad, a 2 year old, and an infant arrived tonight
from Texas driving a small, well-worn Toyota car with everything they had strapped
to the roof of the car. Duane and Lisa lost everything they had in hurricane Katrina.
Everything, dig it? Everything except each other.

Thanks to the efforts of several of the people in my neighborhood, including my lovely
wife, Duane and Lisa + kids arrived to a nice little house in Eagle, Idaho with 6
months of pre-paid rent. The house is fully furnished with everything (and I mean
everything) that the family will need; food, clothes, furniture, kitchen, appliances,
bedding, towels, and more. I actually saw the inside of the house and it is lovely.
By the way, there is also a fully functional and pretty nice Ford Explorer in the
garage, soon to be in their name. And a Christmas tree.

All theirs. After the rent runs out, they will need to start paying rent, but everything
else is theirs. Cars, clothes, the whole deal. Pretty cool, huh?

The group of people that pulled this together did so in a week. That is an amazing
task. When I saw what this group was capable of, it really made me think about how
much more we could all do for each other, if we would just pause long enough to see
the need. Speaking of which, Duane is a plumber. You know anyone who is hiring?