Helpings Others at Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve!

Through the last seven months of Thomas's cancer treatment and especially during the last 37 days of his PICU stay, we have been embraced so tightly by the Body of Christ. We have had to learn how to accept our own inabilities and helplessness, and how to accept the aid of others. I can speak for myself that given some circumstances of my childhood and their psychological effect, it is astonishingly hard for me to accept help or feel dependence on anyone. This has profoundly altered mine and Chris's life, our family's life, and the way we will behave going forward. We think we have always been "nice" and "giving," but now we see what is truly called for.

Therefore, I am here desiring to shine a light on some beloved friends of ours who need help: Jason and Katie Craig. Often during the Christmas season, our family and others are seeking ways to donate and to do good. We find reputable organizations and give our money, never really knowing where it goes. It can be unsettling or worrisome to give on a more local, personal level and one really must be careful of Go Fund Me pages that could be a scam. Chris and I want to assure you that this is the most real and deserving local family who needs help, so, if you are seeking a way to be the Body of Christ for someone, here is an opportunity.

Dairy barn burned down

Click here to view the Go Fund Me page for the Craig family's barn

Jason and Katie Craig are wonderful parents of seven children, the youngest just a wee infant. Their oldest daughter is a dear friend of my girls, and a young lady full of virtue and character whom I would like my own daughters to emulate. Now the family's dream of a dairy farm and a significant portion of their livelihood has gone up in the flames of a barn fire. The Craigs chose to leave surburbia and learn how to run a small farm. We have known them personally since almost the very beginning of their farm experience: when they moved rurally and began apprenticing with local mentor farmers. Jason knew as much about farming as probably any other suburban dad, and Katie as much about all the stewardship and hard work necessary of a farmer's wife. They chose to embrace this lifestyle for raising their children in order to raise them in a beautiful culture of family, hard work, simplicity, contentedness, and for being close to the cycle of life: raising the animals, slaughtering the animals, growing the crops, harvesting the vegetables.

Click here to follow Once Upon a Cow MicroDairy on Facebook

The Craigs had established a successful micro dairy that sold its products locally in North Carolina. It has been going beautifully, but a cause that was no fault of their own sparked a fire that engulfed the barn within about five minutes. The equipment within the barn cost more than the barn itself, but it will all be quite expensive to rebuild from scratch. And now the hard-working family is having to milk the herd of cattle manually twice a day since their time-saving equipment has been destroyed.

Click here to watch the 3-minute video in which Jason describes the barn fire

The children regularly played in that barn, including four-year-old Joseph who took his daily naps in the hayloft. When the fire broke out, Joseph could not be accounted for and Jason had to face racing into the engulfed barn to try to save his son. I can tell you that Jason would have given his life without one hesitation, so I'm particularly grateful that in those short seconds as Jason faced the flames, Katie found their son and screamed to her husband that Joseph was safe. Otherwise, Jason would have died in that fire and we would be experiencing a much more devastating tragedy now. 

My dear friend Katie has been with me every step of the way of Thomas's cancer, encouraging me, sending me little gifts, visiting us. When her barn burned down, I did not even know and for a week: she just kept texting me encouragement and Scripture in my ICU, saying nary a word about her own major loss. 

Click here to read Jason's letter in which all he wants is to make Fraternus more successful

The Craig family lives very modestly and frugally. I wouldn't want to cast too bright a light on how careful they are with their pennies, so if you know and trust me, I will ask you to trust my opinion that any donation you make to their Fund to Rebuild the Barn will be carefully stewarded. They wouldn't even have started a Go Fund Me campaign, but one of their mothers did so (just like a sweet mom!). Instead of the Craigs asking for money for themselves, they used their personal loss to request donations for Fraternus, the incredibly wonderful father-and-sons organization which Jason co-founded. This family is truly always thinking of others.

As you consider donating some money for good causes this Christmas season, please consider this worthy family.

Click here to view the Go Fund Me page for the Craig family's barn