iHope

Today was a service day at our church which was named iHope. There were various projects that had been set up for groups to do including yard help in neighborhoods, helping with a satellite church's facilities, working at Saving Grace ministry, and moving items for the local women's shelter. Our new body life group that we are leading includes five families, and four families got together today to work side-by-side to participate (the fifth family was sick, or they would have been there too).

The morning began rather rough, as Arden was crying after being woken up early, and I was debating about the benefit of putting her back into a half day of childcare after being away from her during the work week already. I was running late, so Stuart left separately to get there on time. Then, Arden had a dirty diaper, so we had yet another delay. As soon as I started the van, I realized that the gas light was on, so we had another stop to make to fill up the tank. Quickly, I pulled out onto the interstate and started cruising quickly down the road to make up for lost time. However, as Owen quickly pointed out, "Mom, this isn't the way to church!" In my hurry, I had turned down the opposite direction on the interstate and was "automatically" driving towards my favorite mall instead of north towards church! So, after a quick u-turn at the next exit, we were on our (right) way. Upon checking the kids in at church, the printer failed to print Arden's nametag, so I had to go back to the end of the line and wait all over again to get her security tag. Finally, we were all there, and kids were distributed. Only twenty minutes late!

This was the first time that our small group had worked together, and though it started with a lot of setbacks, it was a very good day. We loaded boxes from the other women's shelter and unloaded and organized materials at the new facility. The younger kids had childcare provided by volunteers at the church, but Owen was too old for the childcare and worked along with the adults this year. This was the first service project like this that Owen had ever done, and he absolutely loved it! I was so proud to see him jump in and lift all the boxes and take the work so seriously. He enjoyed talking to all the adults, and I had a couple of offers from people who said they "wanted to take him home with them." He has such a servant's heart and loves helping! Owen begged to be able to do this project again next year, and Stuart explained that we would do a service project again sometime soon, but it might not be at the same location. Owen replied, "But I really want to organize stuff!" Ha. He is definitely my child!

We picked up the kids at lunchtime, so Arden could come home for her nap. It was a good day, and we are looking forward to more times of service in our local community . . . and maybe someone else will need Owen's organizational services!