service

Last weekend I went with some friends from church to serve at the local Rescue Mission. We served dinner.

The mission serves dinner 6 nights a week to anyone who shows up. The only requirement is that you are in the door by 5 pm, and you sit through the message. Not a sermon, really, but more of a bible devotional or encouragement.

My friends and I passed out drinks, refilled drinks, handed out plates of food, and talked to people.

I often forget how good it feels to serve someone else.

I sometimes get so wrapped up in my own little world that I forget about the blessing of serving others. I get blessed, and I would hope they do too.

Anyway, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. And I am grateful for the Mission and how they help people on a daily basis.

K

30 Days of Thankful: Day 27

I am thankful for all the blessings God has given me.

Today I went with a group of people from church to serve at the Rescue Mission's Great Thanksgiving Banquet. It is a free Thanksgiving meal for anyone who wants to come. It is largely homeless people who are there, but there are also some people who are not homeless but just down on their luck.

There were 165 of us volunteers there, and we served about 1000 people.

There were clothing giveaways, flu shots, free bibles, and lots of love and welcoming spirit. As the coordinator told us before starting, the people coming today are out guests.

And that's what it felt like.

I am grateful for every blessing in my life- both those given to me, and the opportunities to work for others. I am so blessed, that I couldn't even count them all.

Thank you God for your blessings, and for the opportunity to serve others.
K

30 Days of Thankful: Day 11

On this Veteran's Day, I am thankful for everyone who has stood up, taken the oath, and sacrificed for my country. I know of and know a lot of veterans, and I am grateful for them.

Today we had the Veteran's Day assembly at school. There was music, reciting, cheering for veterans and everything else that a Veteran's Day assembly should have.

All day long I kept thinking about him. Grandpa Glen. This picture was from later in life, after his service obviously. But he was a veteran - probably the closest one to me.  He served in the Army, and he jumped behind lines in Okinawa and Japan. In Korea, he got called back and was a jumpmaster for awhile. Grandpa Glen isn't with us anymore, but I still thought of him all day. I thought of how he wouldn't talk about any Army stuff at all, until I was in High School and started asking him about it. I thought of the pictures I have of him when he was in the service, and even a picture he took of a jump. I thought about the metal box of things he kept hidden for a long time, until I started being curious. I thought about the handle of a rip cord that he kept in that box, from a 'chute that didn't open.

On this Veteran's Day, I want to thank not only my Grandpa Glen, and my Brother-In-Law who is currently in the Air Force, but all the veterans. Everyone who served in some way to protect our country from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Thank you.
K

30 Thankful Days: Day 3

Today I am thankful for service. For the opportunity to serve.

I heard someone say that service is one of the best ways we can see God because we take our eyes off of ourselves.

Today was church, and I served. I was asked a couple months ago to help prepare communion on the Sundays that we have it. So this morning I went to help prepare communion. I really enjoyed working with the other lady to get it ready, and to have it prepped for the second service as well. It is not a huge deal to get there early, and I enjoy the job.

After service, Pastor thanked us for our service and said he got to serve communion to someone for the first time because they professed faith in Jesus today.

It was a privilege to be a very small part of that.

I pray that continuing to serve will be a big part of my life.
K

doing good

Today I bought a hair clip.

On the side of the road.

I had gone to target to get some really exciting things, like toilet paper, and dishwasher detergent and such. As I was headed home, there was a guy standing on the corner with a sign that said "I am not a panhandler-just doing what I can with what I have."

I was intrigued by this, so I rolled down my window and asked what he's selling.

And then came the reply: "hair accessories".

Even more intrigued.

...

So I pulled around and parked. This guy was great - he announced to me as I walked up that he loved Jesus, and that he wanted me to know that Jesus loves me. He got saved 2 years ago, and just wants to make sure people know. I shook his hand and told him I am a Christian also - I got saved when I was 7. He asked if I had been saved ever since, and I said for sure. He showed me his shirt that said "Rep the King". (For those NOT in the 'hood, Rep means "represent". Clarification: I am not in the 'hood either - in the interest of full disclosure.)

I looked at his hairbands, hair clips and what he was selling. He told me that his wife made all of them, and he was just out trying to do his best at selling them. So I bought one.

Here it is, sitting on my computer.

As I drove away, I felt really good about buying this little hair clip. I ALWAYS feel conflicted about people standing on the corner asking for handouts. I want to help, but NEVER know how I could actually help. And then I hear the statistics that some huge percentage of any money you give is used for drugs and alcohol, which makes me feel even more befuddled about what, if anything, I can actually do.

But today, I felt really good. I felt like I helped. I felt like making the decision to spend 5 dollars on a hair clip was the good one - whether I actually wear the hair clip or not. But if for nothing else, I really appreciate his creativity, and willingness to DO something besides just stand there.

No, I don't know how that money will be used. But I know that there was time spent making these, and creativity spent in coming up with something they could do. And I fell really good about rewarding that.

So, for now, I will just keep my hair clip, and pray for the hands that made it, and the family that hopefully will benefit from today's interaction.
I know I did.
K

empathy

A friend of mine from church recently felt led to do something for the people who had lost their houses in the recent fire. There were 346 houses totally lost, and lots more that were damaged. So Mandy set out to do something.

She set up a "Free Garage Sale". Meaning, anyone with an ID and address on the affected streets could come to our garage sale, and shop for free. No money. Nothing cost anything. She got a church to give us some space to do the sale, and a bunch of people to donate things that one might need after losing almost everything. She had volunteers to do everything in running the sale, and coordinated with the disaster relief effort going on nearby - they were helping people sift through the ashes of their homes, and using this church as a home base. They handed out water all day, and sent people inside to do some "shopping".

So I dropped off lots of sheet sets and comforters that Mom and I had culled from the cabin and our homes. And I told Mandy I would come back early Saturday morning and help get things opened up for the day.

So yesterday morning, I got some coffee and headed over to the church early in the morning. I had to be there at 7:30, and as my Mom says, "That's ALL THE WAY on the other SIDE OF TOWN!". So I went.

I didn't do much, except check-in volunteers, give people tours of the sale space, and smile and be friendly.

But let me just tell you.

As I was driving away, I got to thinking about those people that came to the sale. And I got to thinking about how they must be feeling right about now, as the shock has worn off and the finality of things set in. About how they must feel every time they have to meet with an insurance adjuster, and how they must feel sending in a mortgage payment on a house that doesn't exist anymore.

And I recalled the gratitude of the people as they asked over and over, "You mean we can take ANYTHING?" "We don't have to pay for it?" And their incredulous expressions as that information set in.

And I thought that even though I can intellectually understand the enormity of what has happened, I do not truly have empathy for them. I cannot wrap my mind around all the things they are dealing with at this point.

So I prayed as I drove home that God would give me more empathy for these neighbors of mine, and the will to find another way to help.

And then I was thankful for Mandy. That she had found a way to provide a little bit of hope to these people that must need some encouragement. And that God told her to do something and she obeyed.

And then I looked to the west, at the charred hills, and prayed for my neighbors who lost homes. That they would find what they need to go on and thrive. And I think God gave me a little bit more empathy, right then.
K