365 Days of Service

Day 148 - Nov 8

Ryan headed up a clean up mission at the Northwest Oklahoma City Campus of LifeChurch.tv. I was there to help him as much as I could, but he did a great job today. Friday night was a lock-in for the youth at that campus and so we invited them to join us for the fun! It was awesome to see 75 teenagers arm themselves with paint and paintbrushes, garden tools and other tools to help us clean up the campus. We worked on landscaping, painting poles in the parking lot, cleaning the building, etc. It was a successful mission and a lot of fun. We wrapped up the day with a hot dog cookout. Can’t wait for the next one!

Day 147 - Nov 7

If you follow my blog, you know that we’ve had three kittens we’ve fostered in the last 6 months or so. Tormey was the kitten that I trapped outside the house and then got into the foster program. Today I took her to the adoption center to go into a Petsmart in the area. She’s a great cat and I hope she’ll be able to find a home quickly!

Day 146 - Nov 6

Tonight I spent an hour gathering with other volunteers for the Oklahoma Humane Society to talk about some of the adoption policies they are changing. We also got a tour of the new adoption center in Oklahoma City. If you or a loved one is looking for a new pet - this place is amazing. I highly recommend any animal from the Humane Society since most of their animals are fostered in homes before they are offered for adoption. This not only helps transition them into a family more quickly but it ensures a lot less work for you on the other side. Find out more about the new adoption center open Tuesday - Sunday 11:00am - 7:00pm here.

Day 145 - Nov 5

Tonight we combined our time in LifeGroup with a trip to Mercy Ministry to bag groceries. It was awesome to all get together to work for the good of the community. I love working with my peeps!

Day 144 - Nov 4

Internet Campus night with Ryan. Had a good time speaking with a lady who was having connection issues, and then proceeded to tell me what a terrible day she had. At first I was a little taken aback by the way she was speaking to me, but God is good and He gave me lots of grace. It was awesome to see her attitude change as she responded to kindness. A good lesson to remember that we all have bad days and the one thing that can turn it around is kindness from a stranger.

Day 143 - Nov 3

Mercy Ministry day - had a great time with a group of volunteers bagging fruit. I was envious of the recipients getting all that delicious organic fruit tomorrow!

Day 142 - Nov 2

1. Got up this morning and went with Ryan to recruit volunteers for our MicroMission next Saturday.

2. Spent the afternoon at the Oklahoma City Campus in the toddler room, pushing the bye-bye buggy, and cuddling with upset kids.

3. On my way to our friends’ house to help with improvements, I passed a woman with a broken-down car waving for help. I turned my car around and went back. A young guy and I had stopped to help so he and I pushed her car out of the street. I then took her over to the gas station to get gas. When she had a full gas can, I gave her some more cash for gas or food, whatever she needed. I also talked with her about church and Mercy Ministry - letting her know where to go if she finds herself in need of food in the future. Thanks for the opportunity to use my experience with Mercy God. What an awesome gift to give.

4. Headed over to our friends’ house to help them with improvements before they put their house on the market. They are moving to Nashville where my brother and his family live. I’m sad to see them leave but so excited to see them on the path that God has laid before them. We cleaned, painted, patched holes, packed stuff, on and on. It was a great afternoon with our LifeGroup just being there for each other.

Day 141 - Nov 1

Ryan and I are leading a MicroMission on Saturday November 8th at the NW Oklahoma City campus of LifeChurch.tv. He asked me to help put together some signage for the table in the lobby of the campus on Sunday. We went shopping for supplies and then created the signs. I’ll be there in the morning to help him recruit volunteers.

Day 140 - Oct 31

Ryan and I have volunteered on Halloween at carnivals in the past, we’ve been out with our neice in Houston to celebrate, and one year before we moved here we dressed up and went out to two separate parties. That was the old days. Here in Oklahoma we’ve discovered Halloween isn’t as much fun without kids around. Friends of ours with kids invited us out, but we were really too tired at the end of the week. While we ate dinner I handed out candy to about 10 neighborhood kids, but that was all we had visit. It’s good we don’t need to buy much candy.

Before I went home for trick-or-treating I spent some time working on a friend’s blog and putting together some instruction for editing it. She has been patient with me and an encouragement during difficult times. She paid me to put the blog together for her, so I just spent time on this tonight without billing her.

Day 139 - Oct 30

I put invitation cards and wrist bands to our latest series at LifeChurch.tv “Practical Atheist” in the neighbors’ mailboxes today. I’m not sure what they will make of them, but perhaps someone will be challenged and will decide to see what LifeChurch.tv is all about.