365 Days of Service

Day 281 - Mar 25

My friend, Kevin, is on staff at LifeChurch.tv and he requested my help with a video he’s shooting to promote LifeChurch.tv’s involvement in 7 Days of Servolution (See the sidebar banner below). I recently painted a wall mural for our friend’s nursery and he wanted to incorporate the painting and our friends into the video. It was a fun morning. Can’t wait to see it on the big screen.

Tonight I normally serve at our Youth Switch experiences alongside Ryan at the Edmond Campus of LifeChurch.tv. I’ve been suffering from headaches this week, and one thing I have learned about our Youth experience is that it is LOUD. I thought a night of loud music and kids might not be the best cure for a headache. I hate missing out on serving the kids, and especially Ryan, but I found another way to reach out. Our elderly neighbors, I’ve mentioned them a few times over the past year, don’t have a ton of family around. I’ve been trying to find ways to serve them when I can and I’ve discovered that our neighbor, Dwayne, has a sweet tooth. I always get big compliments from him and his wife when I’ve delivered cookies or another dessert. One night this week I made a chocolate cake so I took them several pieces of cake. When they answered the door and saw the cake, his face lit up. It feels like playing Santa Claus! They are great and I hope they enjoy the cake.

Day 280 - Mar 24

It’s right in the middle of March Madness, and although I’m not watching ANY basketball games (except the ones that Ryan watches, if I am paying attention) I did have a great March Madness experience at Mercy Ministry today. Once a month our team has been regularly serving during the day at Mercy Ministry on the last Tuesday of the month. It’s such a different experience than when I serve on Monday nights, because I am able to interract directly with the clients. The director, Jules, let me step into her role as the greeter today and I had a ton of fun. The greeter hooks up the clients with volunteers who will pray with them, then makes sure they get the groceries they need and helps manage the waiting list for getting clothing. I talked to so many people today and even was able to practice my spanish-speaking skills. We had an amazing group of volunteers there working together and it was a busy but very rewarding day. Some changes are in the works at Mercy Ministry and while I am hopeful and confident about God’s control of the situation, I am prayerful that I will still get to take part in the great things that are happening at Mercy.

Day 279 - Mar 23

The dinner I made last night went to our friends’ house tonight. Ryan helped me deliver it after work. The new mom’s mom is also a new grandma and she was coming into town to spend the week with her new grandbaby. Hopefully dinner got the week off to a good start! (See the Chicken Fried Rice recipe here).

Day 278 - Mar 22

Recently friends at LifeChurch.tv had their first baby and I volunteered to deliver dinner to them tomorrow. I made chicken fried rice from a family recipe my mom made super-simple. I though I’d share it with everyone who wants an easy but tasty meal.

Ingredients
3 eggs, beaten
2 cans or two cooked, chopped chicken breasts
4 cups cooked rice, white or brown
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots (or use frozen peas and carrots, thawed and skip the peas above)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons oyster sauce
fresh garlic to taste

Cook the rice and set to the side. Heat up a little olive oil in a deep frying pan or wok and stir in the beaten eggs, add 1 tbsp of the soy sauce and 1 tbsp of the oyser sauce. Cook most of the way through and add the onion and garlic. Cook on low for about 2 minutes, then add the peas and carrots. Let all of this get heated through and add the chicken, again let it get heated through. Add about half of the rice, then the remaining 2 tbsp of soy sauce and oyster sauce - mixing well. When the sauce is dispersed through the rice, add the remaining rice and continue to mix. Let it all heat together for a few minutes (2-3) and then serve. It’s easy, cheap, quick and yummy and you can usually find all you need in the pantry. If you prefer other vegetables to peas and carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, and even zucchini make a good substitute.

Day 277 - Mar 21

I woke up today and got ready to serve with leaders and kids from our Switch experiences at All Things Baby. All Things Baby is run by a family out of the Edmond LifeChurch.tv campus and they cater to pregnant and new moms providing them with everything they can to help welcome baby into the world. This includes clothing, shoes, baby supplies, furniture and toys. I am sure there are a lot of things that babies need that I’m not thinking of, but if they need it, I guarantee All Things Baby will try to find it.

Ryan and Tim got up a lot earlier to get the supplies, food and the bus for the trip ready for the kids and leaders to load to ride to the baby warehouse. I met them there and after only a few minutes ran with a leader to Wal-mart to pick up additional hangers and other supplies. We bought 200 new hangers and I have no idea how logn those will last. There are a TON of little tiny clothes in the warehouse waiting to be hung. I also ran another errand to Lowe’s to get a trash can and liners. Turns out that 35 teenagers can make a pretty big mess. It was all for good though - they had most of the organizing and painting done when I left. Amazing what a group of people can accomplish when they work together!

Day 276 - Mar 20

I took a little time today to shop for friends who just had their first baby and to whom I am taking dinner on Monday. I bought the ingredients for a fun and yummy dessert that I am going to try for the first time. Let’s hope I can get it figured out on Sunday.

Day 275 - Mar 19

During the trip, my brothers and I were together for the first time before the date of March 19 - the day our father passed away 13 years ago. As a special treat for our mother, whom we all love and respect very much, I got my brothers to sit down and write a note on a card for her. I spent the day today praying over my mom and our entire family. Losing a loved one (we’ve lost several along the way) is hard for everyone, and yet our family has persevered and grown stronger and closer over time. I only hope that the glue that holds us together lasts the test of time and we will always be a close and loving family. I want the legacy that we pass on to the next generation to be one of love, faith and family. I think our parents started it for us and I’m so honored to get to know and love my mom the way I do.

Day 274 - Mar 18

Today was a blessing in disguise. We planned our vacation around the week that Ryan would not be required to serve at Switch because of the kids on Spring Break. We both had to be back at work today, so it was a shock to my system to get up, get ready and be productive. I’d had such a nice week of sleeping late and playing all day. It was a big relief to not have serving on the schedule for our evening. We decided to spend the time we would have been at Switch helping each other around the house. Ryan cleaned so I could cook (baked a pumpkin pie too) and then we both got into bed early. Getting over this vacation is going to take a few days.

Day 269 - Mar 13 through Day 273 - Mar 17

I’ve grown much more relaxed about serving as this year has progressed and I think that has a lot to do with incorporating it into my daily routine. I’ve seen days come and go where I didn’t find an obvious opportunity to serve someone and it was ok. Perhaps I wasn’t being as “outward focused” as I had originally planned to be on those days, but I know that a missed opportunity came and went. And that it is ok. God has blessed me so much through this journey that it’s really difficult to focus on the missed opportunities.

That being said, while we were on vacation it could have been SO easy to just sit back, relax and let our families take care of us for a few days. I’ve learned, however, that although they would be happy to, it feels a lot better to bless them in return by doing a few favors. So while we were vacationing (staying with my brother, sister-in-law and their little boy) I washed dishes, helped in the backyard, cleaned up after us and started laundry when we left. It really had not occurred to me before this 365 day journey to do those things with purpose. I guess maybe in all this God was simply trying to teach me good manners. Well, if that is all, then I will be a better person for it anyway. I’ve learned so much more than just good manners, however, and I’ve been reflecting on that more and more recently. What a journey this has been.

Day 268 - Mar 12

Ryan and I are taking a few much-needed days away from the church this weekend (and we are both healthy so far!! Earlier “vacations” were spoiled by vicious stomach bugs and other junk). I’m so excited to see family and take a break. I can’t wait to eat and sleep and laugh, and that’s about it. To get us started off right, I made Ryan’s favorite trip snack, dark chocolate bark with walnuts, pecans, and almonds. Yum. I have a feeling we’re both going to be just a wee bit heavier when the vacation is over. Bring it!