Camille B.

Financial giving is easy...and although it’s a blessing that I’m able to do so... I believe time is the most valuable resource we have and personally, spending time with those in need is far more fulfilling than writing a check. 

Each week I visit a 99-year-old and we reminisce about “the good old days” when we were bridge partners and how well we played together. Those memories bring shared smiles. And, as we share our Presbyterian beliefs, she gets a weekly update on what’s happening at “the Kirk.” Although she is bedridden, her mind is still very much intact. I never leave her without playing Anne Murray’s rendition of the “Teddy Bear Song” which seems to delight... and her little feet tap in time to the music. She blows me kiss each time I say “goodbye for now.” She is a gift. Her one hope is that she lives to be 100 so that she can boast about it to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I think she’ll make it. I pray that she does.

Time is also spent each week with two dear, dear gentlemen who are in memory care. One suffers from cancer. The other I pick up at a manor home and take to church with me every Sunday. All the way to and from, I hear great stories...always the same, but nevertheless, important to him...so also to me.

As a member of the Kirk in the Hills Congregational Care Committee, we know there are those in need of tender loving care...and much of my time is spent giving it. We have widows that need support and I have just the right books to help them...and then send them on to our church Sojourners and Stephen Ministers. Others are faced with serious challenges and may require more support...we’re there for them.

Writing a newsletter for our Kirk seniors keeps them informed of “what’s doin’ “ at the church...and the jokes I include keeps them smiling. 

The Kirk also began a sandwich ministry four years ago and about 30 members of our congregation (me being one) make 20 sandwiches every week that are then delivered to the Baldwin Center, Oakland Hope and a poor Presbyterian church...all in Pontiac. There are lines of people waiting when our sandwiches are delivered. How sad to think that only a few miles north of us, people are waiting in line for a sandwich. By the way...we have now made and delivered 80,000 sandwiches. 

Presently I’m serving on an Associate Pastor Nominating Committee. We have been meeting weekly since December. It takes a lot of homework to learn more about each of the applicants, in addition to listening to many sermons and reading countless resumes. Never would I have believed this would be such a difficult assignment. But it is!

So there you have it. In all the activities I have participated in since the loss of my husband, none have been as rewarding as the time I spend with my church and its members. This is what I want to do. This is what makes me happy.