A Selfless Sacrifice

By: Steve Mueller

This story is about a 43-year-old cousin who, through a tremendous act of kindness, has lived out genuine Christ-like love and sacrifice for the past 13 years. Her benevolent acts of service for our family are eternally imprinted on our hearts.

The roots of this story begin in the early 90’s. Cousin Dawn helped our family milk cows and do other chores around the homestead where my sister Stephanie and her husband lived. Around this time, there was a horrific accident in which nine-year-old Joshua fell into the silo and then the auger. He was life-flighted to the hospital and fortunately, they were able to restore 10% of his arm’s capacity. The benevolence that Dawn and her church poured out during this awful time was extraordinary.

Eleven years later, Dawn stepped in to help again – this time into a role no one ever wants to fill. On October 7th, 2012, Stephanie and her husband Eldon were killed instantly in a car accident. They left nine children behind on that fateful night. Krystle (22) called me crying. “Uncle Steve, we lost mom and dad in a car accident tonight!” As I drove to Arrowsmith that night, the broken glass was still scattered on that deadly intersection of Rt 24 and the Weston blacktop.

Dawn was 32 at the time and was willing to help as she always had been in the past. She willingly took on the difficult task of raising the six children still at home, including carrying on the homeschooling that Stephanie had been doing. I grew up in the same church as Dawn in Forrest, Illinois, and knew the sacrifice she was making as a single sister of this church. She told me this was her ministry and calling from God. At the time of the accident, the nine children were between ages 7 and 22.

The youngest, Loren, turned 18 this past July and is now moving away from the farm. Joseph (25) and his family are moving onto the farm as the estate is now closing. Cousin Dawn has moved a quarter mile down the road from the farm and teaches at a Christian school in Fairbury, now that her “God-given assignment” with her cousins has ended.

Dawn’s legacy of love, loyalty, discipline, teaching, nurturing, and kindness to my family is unexplainable. She would humbly minimize her efforts and give all the glory to God if asked about her decade of charity.

The eternal impact and legacy of benevolence, love, and sacrifice for these nine children and now 23 grandchildren is noteworthy. I sincerely pray that God blesses Dawn for what I’ve observed to be an awesome journey of benevolence.

I believe now more than ever in the God of Heaven, who continually answered prayers for our family. He consistently strengthened Dawn in this journey with tremendous support from her church family. What an incredible testimony I’ve witnessed these past 11 years. It has inspired many to further acts of charity in the short pilgrimage of this life.

About The Benevolence Committee

The Benevolence Committee exists to amplify and uphold our “Benevolence” core value and serve as a bridge between employee-owners and the charities we regularly support. In January, they hosted a writing contest and asked contestants to respond to the question, “What does benevolence mean to you?” or “How have you seen or experienced benevolence in your life?” This story is one of five that will be shared over the week of February 12-16. We hope you are touched and encouraged as you read about the gift of benevolence. Each winner was asked to choose a charity for the Benevolence Committee to donate $500 to. Steve chose Salvation Army (Bloomington):

“This charity has provided food and shelter to an adopted son of mine that had lost his way. They continue to provide food and shelter for the homeless people in Bloomington-Normal. To me, this “army” is a true extension of Christ’s love, food, shelter, care, and benevolence. Thank you so much, Nussbaum, for the eternal vision to implement this benevolence program to extend Christ’s hand up to the needy!”

To all of the writers (whether your story is shared or not), we want to send out a sincere thank you for your vulnerability and willingness to share your story. The Benevolence Committee had a very hard time narrowing down the entries to the five that will be shared this week. Each story was special, and a testament to the power of benevolence in our lives.