It's a family affair

Volunteering has always been my "thing". I got my first taste when I was a senior in high school. A few classmates and myself volunteered with feeding the homeless for Thanksgiving. Throughout the years, I've tried to keep it going, projects like cleaning parks, Habitat for Humanity to name a few. I may not have a ton of money to donate to help different causes but I do have time. Volunteering gives me a feeling of helping, reaching out, giving to others. I have also tried to instill this in my kids. Yogli and I have done a couple of projects together. Usually, Hummingbird is too young to participate. Yesterday was her first taste of helping out.

Our church, Trinity Chapel, holds an annual community Easter Egg Hunt. Yogli thought it would be a good idea for us all to volunteer as a family.What a great way to celebrate and show our gratitude of having a risen King. We all agreed and signed up for the set-up crew. The set-up crew. Arrival time 7 am on a Saturday morning. Hey, we're on vacation, so we were game for anything. Surprisingly, I didn't have to wake up Hummingbird. She was so excited. 

7 am Saturday morning, still dark outside, we arrived at the church. Hummingbird was the only kid there. She jumped right in by carrying boxes of Sunny Delight to the foyer area. MonkeyMan and Yogli headed out to set-up the inflatables. Hummingbird and I stayed inside and helped stuff goody bags.What a great feeling being able to share this experience with her. She was so eager to help out. All of the other adults commented on how helpful and well behaved she was. 

She even got an extra wooden nickel (the incentive TC kids receive in church) for being there bright and early helping out. 

Soon, the sun started coming up and more people started showing up. We all sat and ate breakfast and put our volunteer t-shirts on. I loved the camaraderie that was going on. Age, color, male or female, it didn't matter. We all had one single goal: to show the community God, through our actions. We would soon be serving folks who may have never stepped foot inside a church or maybe never heard of Jesus. Our goal was not to beat them over the head with the bible, but to show them love. Yes, it's that simple. What a great feeling to share this with my family. Soon, the walkway was flooded with people. Walking up, kids in tow, baskets, buckets. It was a chilly morning but we had a goal. That goal was accomplished through many smiles, many laughs, new friendships, stronger relationships.