The Friday Finish – December 27, 2024
Christmas Respite
Community needs are on the rise but Red Bird continues to respond even with staff reductions implemented since August. Staff normally have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, but this year the Red Bird Board of Directors granted an extra day to give staff a longer break for respite. The extra day has given staff the opportunity to get physical rest and connect with family for renewed emotional health. This week’s Friday Finish is giving us a chance to “catch up” with some news that didn’t make last week’s publication.
Semester Closes with Christmas Chapel Services
Academic work for the first semester was complete and special Christmas activities were drawing to a close last Friday. The usual Wednesday chapel service for this last week of the semester scheduled for Friday morning was a good way to send Red Bird Christian School students off for the long Christmas break.
Ms. Chasley’s Kindergarten class set a worship mood for the day during the Elementary chapel with a beautiful choreographed live nativity set to “The First Noel” sung by a contemporary Christian artist. The 5th and 6th Grade band students offered up a few Christmas carols with each student playing a solo line of “Good King Wenceslas”. The elementary choir sang a mix of traditional carols that included the moving song, “Mary Did You Know?” and contemporary songs including “Rusty Chevrolet” with a lyrics edit that gave a nod to “Junior’s”, a country store up Jack’s Creek.
Middle School and High School Chapel joined together in singing Christmas songs to mark the end to their semester. The highlight was the speaker for chapel was a fellow student. Landon Belcher stepped up to deliver a challenging message. Landon lifted examples of opportunities in the Bible that had different outcomes depending on the choices individuals made. Thanks, Brandon, for giving us something to ponder during the break.
Handmade with Love
Christmas blessings arrived at Community Outreach last week from some of the thousands of volunteers that make it possible for Red Bird to reach over 12,000 people each week. Farmhouse Friends in nearby Laurel County, Kentucky delivered beautiful handmade lap quilts and pillowcases last week that will be used for those needing them in our community. Farmhouse Friends have been faithful to volunteer time, material and talents to share with their Kentucky “neighbors” for a number of years.
A special donation of hot pads arrived last week from a volunteer, but it was the note included that made the gifts extra special.
“When I volunteered there in the fall of 2005 - - my last name was Renfrow. My husband had died and volunteering there helped me through the grief process.”
Be Part of Blessing Others – Volunteer in 2025
Red Bird is a special place because it gives our volunteers the opportunity to be a part of helping our staff deliver critical services to families in need. Volunteers provide valuable service during these days when there are fewer financial resources available to hire staff from the local community. The following inspiration arrived last week.
“It was such a joy and blessing to volunteer at Red Bird last week. The work you all are doing for the community is amazing. Your passion and energy for your work was just awesome to witness. I will definitely be back in 2025 sometime and look forward to seeing you all again.”
Won’t you come again, or come for the first time, to volunteer and be a blessing our community?
Comments