Volunteering MLK Day in Farmer's Branch

 So today I had an interesting experience in Farmers Branch, Tx.  It’s MLK day, so Adam is out of luck for sub jobs because there is no school.  In Illinois, my first thought would be to do an odd job or two, to fill the day.  But life is not all about making money.  And I’m not plugged in well enough here yet on that kind of stuff.  Plus, most of that work is done by Mexicans.  Anddd, I’m not done with excuses, because most people have yards the size of a kitchen and don’t require much yard work.

So I decided to volunteer at MetroCrest Social Services, which is completely centered around keeping people from being homeless.  They help people get jobs, teach GED classes and most of all have a drive-through-like food pantry.  Depending on the size of their family, they could take a certain amount of veggies, bread, meat, etc.  It was cool to work with the staff and various volunteers as well as take the actual ‘clients’ through the line, while getting to know them, and help them pick out these goods and get them to their car.  They said it was a relative slow day and I didn’t sit down once. I love being put to work and I look forward to going back.  I decided to start doing this, well one, because Jesus calls us to feed His sheep and take care of the less fortunate, but also because as a sub, I often only get half-day sub jobs.  So I figured I’d use the other half to volunteer.  I found out as the day wore on though, that a lot of the non-staff helpers were actually people serving community service hours.  Some of them had a hard time believing that I was there just to volunteer, which caught me off guard a bit.  Once again, I found myself in a situation as the odd one out.  But I didn’t mind.  We should enjoy the company of ‘ordinary’ people.  I actually like meeting people now and I enjoyed getting to know different people from many various walks of life.  A lot of retired people help out there for something to do.  One time I was told that if you’re old you should talk to young people and vice versa.  I always try to give them the time of day and hopefully glean some wisdom from their stories.  And every time I work on my patience because they do everything so slowly.  But usually it’s worth it.

I also found out I got the job I applied for this summer.  I’m going to be going on tour with CIY Mix, which is the Christ In Youth Conference that goes all over the country, holding week long Christian conferences for junior high students.  My responsibility will be to manage setting up all of the outdoor things such as huge group games and sports.
I love adventure.  I love the challenge of new and somewhat unknown possibilities and opportunities.  I will love to work with and help serve the kids.  I will love to travel the US and see some new country.  I will love to rub elbows with solid Christian leaders.  I will love having a temporary job.  I don’t believe in the word career.  I hate the idea of being tied down by a boring job.  But I’ll get to that later.  Anyways, I think that if you don’t have a couple stories to tell at the end of a day, it was probably wasted.  I could have easily used today to ‘relax’ or indulge myself some other way, but I’m glad I decided to step out and try something new.

“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permits. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” -John Wooden