Love and Sadness!

So today was my first day delivering food for the Food Bank and the backpack program.  I was soo excited to be apart of this and then last night I had a dream that made me think otherwise!  hehe  Oh how I just love dreams!   

So this dream was just crazy and made me very nervous to go in today.  So I go in not knowing what to expect and I was takin over to a guy named Glenn.  The van wasn't back yet so we loaded the pallets up into his truck and drove off.  As we are driving, he is talking my ear off and I am trying to pay attention since the next time I will be on my own. 

So we get to the first school and I then find out that it's the only school.  That makes me very happy so that I'm not having to remember where all these other schools are.  So we park and open up the back of the truck and he takes me in to show me what to do.  We come back out and start loading up to six boxes on the dolly and wheel them up the hill and into the school.  I'm thinking ok this isn't too bad.  However, I am feeling horrible pain in my arms and shoulders bc I decided to rake my whole back yard yesterday but that is another story. 

So we make about 5 or 6 or 7 trips of 5 or 6 boxes each time and stack them in the hallway.  As I am doing this I have to stop and wait for a class to walk by, and then another one.  These kids are waving and saying hi and i'm sure they were about 1st or 2nd grade. 

At this point I feel this great sadness seeing these kids faces and knowing that alot of these bags of food will be going to these kids that are passing by.  It's easier to do something without emotion when you aren't able to connect it to anyone specific.  It broke my heart and made this job soo much more important to me knowing that I will be feeding these kids by making sure the food got there.  What better way to love on these kids than to do something for them that will never know about.

Anyway so I finish the boxes and head back and decide that this is def a job for me.  I will be very excited to do this job every Thursday morning knowing that I am feeding these kids.  Knowing that this may seem like the easier job ever that only takes an hour, but what a HUGE hour it is!!!

Volunteering with my heart!

So this week I was given a new opportunity to volunteer at the Food Bank!  With God in control of my heart I of course said YES!!!!!!!

An email came out to all volunteers at the Food Bank of an opportunity to be apart of their backpack program.  This is one of the best programs they have (my opinion). 

The program is where they fill bags with food that can be opened and eatten by little kids.  The bags are then delivered to schools and given to children who may not have food to eat at home until they get back to school.  Most of these children only get food while and school and this breaks my heart.  This program is HUGE and yet doesn't cost very much!  You can sponsor a child in the backpack program for about $75 a school year.  Can you believe that?  $75 for the whole school year!!!!  Is there anyone who can buy food for the whole school year for $75?  Nope!  What a great opporunity for a person so serve their community for a cost that won't break the bank.

So back to the email, so they said they needed someone on Wednesdays and Thursdays and so I asked about Thursdays (my normal day at the food bank) and they said yes and will work with my hours for picking up Brant from school.  I also have an AMAZING friend who is serving the community in her own way by watching Ashley for me to do this.  I am soo Thankful for her!

So tomorrow I will be learning to load a van and deliver these fragile bags to children who didn't choose to be in their situation.  I may not have enough money to get food to these kids on my own but at least I can make a difference by making sure the food gets to these kids.

If you ever have any questions about volunteering at the Food Bank, I will gladly share my heart and love with you.

Taking care of ME!

So today I went and got a massage with a gift cert Darren got me for Christmas.  It expires after 6 months and this is the first time I have had a chance to use it.

So the massage was for an hour and it was the BEST massage I have ever had.  It was AMAZING!!!  It was the aroma massage and they use all these oils and it was soo relaxing. My favorite part was when they wrapped my feet in these hot towels!    I also like when they massage my fingers and toes.  I am very ticklish so the toes are really hard for me hehe.

This has made me think about my life right now.  I realize that I am finally able to focus on myself again after being just mommy for over 6 years.  I am taking the cake decorating classes for me just for fun, taking sewing classes just for me bc I like to make stuff, and really focusing on who I am and who I want to be in life. 

I am really loving this stage.  I am able to build great relationships with my friends and I get to be me!