Tonight I’m ordering pizza for my family.
It’s a big deal for my daughter. I never serve pizza except on the last day of the month, so for me to make dinner with her favorite food in the middle of the calendar month leaves her giddy.
If only the reason for this change in menu were a happy occasion. But it is not.
Last week an intruder entered a family home in an outlying community near us. The man had a criminal record, but he was out on bail and carried a gun. A young mother was home with her eight-week-old son. The husband, who owned a concrete cutting business, was on site. The intruder shot and killed the mother, then turned the gun on the husband. Though he was hit in the head, the husband survived and was transported to the nearby hospital.
The baby was unharmed.
The community went into overdrive for this family. A gofundme account was set up. A meal train was organized to help the grandmother who is caring for the infant. Calls for diapers, baby wipes, and breast milk were made.
And of course the pizza.
Papa’s, the local pizza chain in our community, sponsors fund-raisers for every need: high school basketball teams, cancer victims, local bible clubs. The pizza chain provides downloadable flyers for the event in advance and the group benefiting from the fundraiser distributes the flyers to their friends. Half of the proceeds from the sale of pizza that evening are given to the party in need. Tonight, August 19, all three outlets of the local chain will accept the flyers. The monies gathered will go to offset the medical bills of the young father.
That’s a lot of pizza. It’s also pretty incredible.
I can’t restore the young mother’s life. I can’t raise her child. But I can buy diapers, wipes, and contribute to the medical bills. And as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I can pray for a brighter future for the father and son whose lives have been forever changed.
The Bible teaches us in Mark 12:31:
“And the second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
I can buy pizza.
Download flyers here: https://www.papaspizza.net/locations-coburg-road-eugene/
GoFundMe:
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gofundme.com%2Ff%2Fmemorial-for-caelen-and-supporting-family%3Futm_campaign%3Dp_cp%2520share-sheet%26utm_medium%3Dcopy_link_all%26utm_source%3Dcustomer%26fbclid%3DIwAR2NVJoho9CS-gt8DQF2P21UrFGhDciMxXtcb2hS_Dxkch3GRkD1DLZFZKM&h=AT0CbrBl5qoNIHldG83NsSDymxTEc3hPW0-fDakKP3M1b59Wl3ZRvmvzl6NHvY926FbVuBKV4xftoSnuPdT6_6PzXPWRV2xMbX1t52qecyPj7hLcObNLPOdcFS06hzuHdcetagfdT85mP-H4ulQ&__tn__=-UK-y-R&c[0]=AT0SUY8tiqWmni-suw18Jt8Mq_rYq8_TMkHOUFfYWtwBPfAjBdGU1vUqvzqpX0RDxoCT1cDVYlxfyPnuGPbzgkfvu0UPlsN9wo-GLodZWWEhc6ZXF2i1PWepDLbCvJplXBo0HknYAztTjgqxIuWUPdfp4ygpoYIqPu2YcLu4PW4IQ3TjtWXPYYtkzQyZ6gIzk_Wma45l