Happy New Year - 2009
January 1st, 2009 by ComputerBob
Even though the world and everyone in it is really only one day older than we were yesterday, most of the people in the world have pretty much all agreed that today is the start of “a new year.”
And so that gives us pause to reflect on however we spent the past year, as well as how we hope to spend the new one.
I’ve mentioned a few times before that I work as a volunteer for a local domestic violence center, doing a wide variety of tasks. And I’ve also mentioned that the work is sometimes very difficult but it’s always incredibly rewarding to me.
Many of my coworkers have survived the types of things that would make many people stay home and feel sorry for themselves for the rest of their lives. But instead, they willingly and tirelessly work for far less than they would be paid to work just about anywhere else — or even for free — to help other people. I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for them all.
Meredith is one of my fellow volunteers. I’m absolutely certain that she’s the hardest working and most valuable volunteer in the entire organization. I don’t even know all of the things that she does, but here are just a few: She spearheads the center’s entire holiday Adopt A Family program that provides toys and necessities to needy families every Christmas — a job that requires her to work days, night and even weekends for a few months every year, to make sure that every family’s needs are met. Plus, she works as a legal advocate at the county courthouse. Plus, she leads survivors’ support groups. Plus, she meets with and advocates for survivors who need various types of help and services. Plus, she fills out and organizes mountains of paperwork and inputs stacks of computer-database data. And, in her spare time, she’s a patient and nurturing friend to many of the center’s other volunteers and full-time staff members.
Yesterday morning, as she left home to go to the DV center, Meredith discovered that her car had been stolen. She called the police. And her insurance agent. And then she made arrangements to borrow a friend’s car.
But early yesterday afternoon, she was back at the DV center, sifting through piles of paperwork to calculate the lengthy, required end-of-the-month client statistics of a full-time employee who is currently out of town on a family emergency.
I said to her, “Wow! You’re in the middle of your own pain, and here you are, helping other people with theirs.”
I hope that everyone who reads this has someone like Meredith in their life.
And I pray that we will all look for ways to bless others throughout this next year.
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Tags:
Domestic Violence, Friends, Inspirational, Personal, Survivors