Last Friday Rian and Reid came to Roscoe. Rian had asked if he could take one of the four company travel trailers back to Shallowater.

In late May, or early June Rian had gone to the elders at Greenlawn and told them after their move to Shallowater in early May and after the packed end of school schedule, he was burned out. That every aspect of his life was suffering.

(As most of you know, in addition to being the assistant principal at Shallowater High School, he serves as associate youth minister at Greenlawn Church of Christ.)

The elders responded by giving him a paid leave of absence for the month of June. the elders said they felt that the school was trying to get all they could for their money and the church was guilty as well. They cut Erica's Bright Horizon schedule in half as well. They instructed Rian that he was not to attend any youth activity for the month. In July the elders would re-evaluate and adjust as needed. They instructed Rian to concentrate on his family, and rather than teaching youth classes he was to attend an adult Bible class.

The down side of this is that the two camps that Rian worked through the youth program provided the majority of the recreation for his three boys. On such short notice, alternate activities had not been budgeted for.

Rian doesn't say a whole lot about finances. He is a lot like his ol' Daddy when it comes to some things. However I can remember what it was like to be young and have a family and struggle without having some un-planned occurrence thrown in.

When Rian was in, we discussed a few things. Apparently the bigger house may have had hidden increases not only in debt service, but possibly utilities, and that projected savings for not commuting were not real.

All of us have had budget surprises.

Anyhow, we discussed some possibilities and Rian seemed a little more positive.

Prior to their leaving, Rian, Reid and I went to Sweetwater to register the travel trailer and do some banking for Memama.

As the pickup and travel trailer were hitched and pointed toward the road Rian went inside to tell his grandmother 'bye.

We were sitting around the kitchen table and he was telling her that he and Erica were trying to figure out a way to send the boys to day camp this week, and I explained that in the past all these camping trips had been "included" in Rian's job. With sanctions of the church leadership, any camp now became "out of pocket".

Memama got up and retrieved her purse and began getting money out. As she was counting, she said, "I want to give the boys a scholarship for camp". Rian began to argue, but if you know Memama, sometimes it doesn't matter if she has her hearing aids in. As a mounting stack of $1 bills grew, I told Memama, "If you are going to do this, why don't you let Pepa help".

She looked at me and realized what I was saying. She instructed me to go and get the key and the lock box and bring it to her. When I returned, she opened the box and removed Pepa's wallet. As she struggled to open it, she finally held it and told Rian what to get out of it. As Rian removed the money, he asked her if he could see the wallet.

He rubbed the wallet, inspecting it outwardly, then lifted it to his nose. "I just wanted to see if it smelled like Pepa", he said.

For a brief moment it was very quiet as the three of us struggled to maintain control of our emotions as the wallet was returned to the lock box.

Priceless. A very special moment. Not just about the money Memama sent for the scholarships, but that Pepa continues and will continue to be an influence and part of all of our lives for generations to come.

FATHER, I lift up all of us that struggle. Whether it is money, illness, relationships, faith, sadness, depression, job or any other reason. I realize that at some point all of us struggle and that YOU know and YOU care and YOU do and will provide relief and a solution.