Tragedy helps inspire angels

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A dream became a reality for Julie Hartsell, who felt she had a purpose after a tragic event.

In October 2009, Hartsell tragically lost her child at four and a half months pregnant. She said, “My husband and I at the time were also children’s pastors at liberty church.”

Hartsell said during her healing process she reached out to a very good friend. Her friend advised her to take her time and pray about it, and that God would answer her questions.

Hartsell said, “In the grieving process, I had a dream and in the dream, I saw a white angel, and it looked like it was cut out of wood in a pattern. It wasn’t three-dimensional, it looked almost like a statue. Basically, I just had this dream God was telling me my child was fine, and my mission was to help other children.”

Hartsell held back tears as she recalled this emotional time in her life. She said, “So, that’s what I did. I got on the internet, and it was so crazy, because it became so real. I was looking for this picture, or a pattern, or something. I stumbled upon it, and it was like a Christmas decoration, like the outdoor patterns that someone would put in their yard. And there she was, I saw a white angel with a red banner, and knew that was the one.”

Julie Hartsell, was a volunteer for the Caring and Sharing program before the angels were started.

Caring and Sharing is a program offered and organized by the churches of the Weatherford Ministerial Alliance, with the support of Corn Heritage Villages, SWOSU, local organizations and individual donors, to help families in need from Weatherford to have a great Christmas.

Tony Cannon is with the Weatherford Ministerial Alliance and helps coordinate Caring and Sharing. He said, “Every Christmas, the ministerial alliance employs me and a group of others to take care of Caring and Sharing. We have a committee and what we attempt to do is raise money. Our churches come together, some of them combine to bring toys, and/or clothing to be distributed.”

Cannon said, “Each church is assigned a certain age of children, and then we give them a guesstimate, and they will try to bring enough toys, and/or clothing for that group of kids. In addition to that, we raise money by selling the angels which sit at Main and Washington each year, and that money is used in addition to what the churches give so that we have enough to be distributed to all the different families.”

In regards to who qualifies for Caring and Sharing, the families have to live in the 73096 Zip Code. Last year, Cannon said they raised supplies and toys for nearly 600 children, and 180-190 families were touched by The Caring and Sharing program. “This year,” Cannon said, “we are anticipating an even larger number than that, just because of the economic situation.”

Any volunteers who would like to assist the Caring and Sharing program are welcome.

Cannon said, “The distribution of the supplies raised for Caring and Sharing will begin 9 a.m., December 12 at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.”

Anyone who wants to donate or give donations before the 12th can, call Cannon at (580) 774- 4402, email him at tcannon1553@gmail.com, or they can send a check to 605 N Pecan in Weatherford.

Cannon said, “Please let it be known this is a combined effort through the Weatherford Ministerial Alliance. It is not one single church, it is a combined effort of all the churches who participate. It is a great project, and we have been so successful in years past.”

During the holiday season, Weatherford residents also get a special visit from the angels which appear every year near the corner of May and Washington.

Hartsell said her and her husband had always been very involved with Caring and Sharing and always tried to help raise money for the kids in the community. She said, “I took the idea to our pastor, and I said ‘this is what we’re going to do, and we’re going to call them angel’s of giving, and we’re going to sell them to businesses.’”

“That’s really kind of how it got started,” Hartsell said. “I just was talking to God saying, ‘God, I need to heal, and grieve, tell me what to do,’ and the dream manifested really quickly. I had amazing people, and lots of volunteers from all around who met three or four nights a week to cut the angels out of plywood and to paint them. There were businesses and people who wanted to honor past loved ones that bought them. So, we took that money and donated it to Caring and Sharing and bought coats and toys.”

Hartsell said, “It’s crazy, because it got started from a dream I had where God was calling me to give. It was more about honoring people. Honoring loved ones that have passed.”

The ministerial alliance now is in charge of the Angels, but the initial goal is still the same.