​​Lesson 7 - Need for community: On a cold Sunday morning back in December, a couple walked into our church and requested assistance. They had driven in for the holidays from Texas in order to see family. They came by way of Florida, where they said they had family as well. They had run out of money on their way up to Georgia, and were in need of a place to stay.

​Lesson 5 - ​Need to Share: I told Catalina our meeting should only take an hour. I couldn't imagine how it would take any longer. The business at hand was pretty simple. We find out a few details, figure out if the need is legitimate, leave the residence and discuss our plan, then email our proposal to the diaconate for approval if the dollar amount was above our personal threshold. 

​Lesson 4 - Judgmentalism: One of our most recent calls was to a woman who was two months behind on rent, with no surplus in her budget. She basically lived from government check to government check. Her savings had just been wiped out the previous month because her car was totaled. As we talked, we found out that the woman had been widowed for close to a decade, and had not held a job since her husband had died. 

​ Lesson 3 - Perspective: One woman we helped had an extremely tragic story - much of which was relayed in the "terrible lives" section found in part 2. We really extended ourselves in all areas to help her. We were on call and made at least one midnight trip out to a questionable job site where we got her out and away from some individuals and situations that we thought were not good.

​Failures: A few sections ago, I mentioned a woman who we had helped out considerably. We helped her purchase food, we drove her around, we got her out of some bad late night situations, we visited her fiance in prison and picked him up when he was released, we set her up with a place to live for a few months, we had her over for dinner, and we listened to her when she called to express fears or frustrations. 

​​Lesson 2 - Terrible Lives: On top of everyone having all the church lingo, almost all who have come to us for assistance have had unimaginably terrible stories. My house burned down. I didn't have renter's insurance. Then my daughter was violated. My mom went to the hospital. Dad died while mom was in the hospital. Mom now needs surgery and doesn't have insurance.