Pay it Forward

I love it when a plan comes together, especially when the hand of God is so very apparent.

Last week I got a phone call from our city councilwoman Marilyn Campbell Nixon, who had gotten a call from the Appalachian Women's Guild who had gotten a call from Hampton's Tax Service about a young, newly homeless couple needing help (I love living in a small county). It seems this couple walked from Monteagle to Tracy City in the freezing temps to see if they could get a Rapid Refund to pay for their bus tickets back to Oklahoma where they had jobs waiting for them.

I put them on the bus this morning, one week later, but the story behind the story is worth telling.

Dean Owenby takes charge. Dean was the person the couple happened to see last Wednesday at Hampton's (also called Jackson Hewitt). Who knows why or how the good Lord operates, but this couple's story touched something in Dean and put her into action. The rest of story just miraculously unfolded from there. Dean, Dean's officemate April Fults and customers Carrie Castro and family all pitched in to get the couple someplace warm for the night and food in their belly. Somehow thru all of Dean's phone calls, the situation became known to Stephanie Gibbs who jumped into action as well. With the help of her church, Lords House of Faith in Altamont, they came up with the funds to house the couple at Regency Inn until their bus left the following week and funds could be raised to purchase the tickets.

Marilyn problem solves the bus ticket situation. A sign of a good leader is someone who assesses a situation and finds the means to get it solved. Monteagle doesn't have a budget line item or a "community chest" set up for situations like the one this couple was in. Her next line of thinking was dead-on, find someone who is involved with a local church. That is where my phone call came in. Because we are both results-oriented people, she knew this kind of project was right up my alley. She was right. I contacted my church elders (Morton Memorial UMC) who jumped right in without question, JoAnn Sargent (who works at City Hall and whom I love dearly) contacted her church (Cumberland Bible Church) and they jumped in without question as well. Then a surreal Facebook moment happened when Chip Ramsey from the Saturday Independent gave me a name of an organization who helped Middle Tennesseans like the couple in question and they immediately agreed to round out the final funds needed to purchase the tickets. It really, truly was an amazing series of events. Things clicked.

Fishes and loaves. What made this story even more compelling was the other missing pieces of the puzzle that came together like fishes and loaves. Monteagle Church of Christ helped feed the couple this past week, New Hope Community Church and Ed & Nola Fults donated funds to help house and feed them too. My Kiwanis/Chamber friend and all around great gal Sue Herrick donated funds for their food during the trip to Oklahoma. Our needs were so fulfilled that I even had to turn away an offer from my Republican compadre and Christ Church elder Matt Pilcher. Now that is a rare moment indeed!

Pay it forward. As I paid for the tickets with the raised funds and handed the couple a card with food money enclosed, I echoed the request that came from the lips of all who helped: "Please pay it forward. Your time to help others will come, so make good choices along the way and be ready. You will never know how, or when or why, but the good Lord works thru all of us at different times and different capacities. You just have to open up your heart and listen."

Safe journeys Patricia and Michael!