A Thank You Letter From Russ

Let me just start out by saying I have never prayed for patience, understanding, or any other trial to make me a better husband, father or son.   I figure those will come on their own without asking!!

Well, last week Garrett drove Kori’s Mazda to work.  On his way home he called me and said “Dad, I blew a tire and now the car won’t start!”  If you know anything about cars (not saying I do) you realize those two things don’t really go together in diagnosing a car issue on the phone.  So I headed out to rescue him.  Well he was right.  The front tire had blown while he was going 70 mph on the freeway.  The tire proceeded to tear up the shroud inside the fender well.  That just so happens to be where all the wiring comes from the firewall to the fuse box and the engine.  The loose tire tread broke some of the wiring and now the car wouldn’t start.  Well that's ok, I thought we still have one more car so I can take my time fixing it.  The next day, Garrett says, “Hey Dad the Taurus won’t start.”  I worked on it but I couldn't get it figured out.  Ok, I thought, I’ll just drive him to work until I fix that too.  Later that night I went out to the garage and noticed the floor was wet.  The water heater broke and flooded the garage.  Really!!  Honestly what could be next.    No, I really didn’t want to know!!

Well what was next?  School fees!  Nearly $800 for three kids!  As a Dad I thought how do I do this!

Once again a miracle came to help our family in our time of need with Kuts for Kori.  I really don’t know how to thank everyone!  I don’t know everyone to thank!  And by naming people I fear leaving someone out and offending them.  What I do know is a lot of selfless people put a lot of time, effort and money into helping our family and I will be forever grateful.  Grateful for the kind words, the encouragement and the financial help.   We have been blessed with so many miracles since this has happened and those miracles have nearly always come in the form of another person.  There are great people in this world.

I may not have prayed for trials, but they have come and lessons have been learned.   I’ve learned that accepting service can be harder than giving service.  I’ve learned from you how to better provide service so I can pay it forward someday.  I hope I am a better man for these trials.  I hope our family is better for them. I’m grateful for the miracles and the increase in faith that have come in the form of so many of you.  The care, concern and service to our family has been not only awe-inspiring but humbling to say the least.

THANK YOU!!