I'm going to start from the beginning (sort of) so you understand what I'm talking about. About 10 of us have been planning and organizing the projects and details for our Project CARE: Mission Possible since January. Our goal was to get at least 60% of the Sunday morning congregation involved which equated to about 500 people. Two weeks ago, we had 254 people signed up. At the end of the day today, we had a total of 571 volunteers. The plan was for everyone working on some type of project to come to the church this morning at 8:00am for a praise and worship service and then we'd all disperse to our projects. Projects included: making care packages for transitional families in need, serving brunch to a family homeless shelter, serving at the crisis women's pregnancy center, collecting canned foods, a habitat for humanity project, various yard work projects for people in need, school beautification projects, home cleaning for older or disabled individuals, cooking and delivering casseroles to various agencies, a car wash to raise money for various ministries, etc... the list goes on and on.
I fell asleep last night to lightening and hearing the rain pounding on our window, knowing that many of our projects today would be outside.
I woke up to one of the most beautiful days we have had yet this year. It couldn't have been more beautiful. On the way to the church, I was already overcome with total awe and just humility for knowing what was about to happen today that the drop of a hat would have brought me to tears. My own private, personal "theme song" so to speak during this whole planning process for Project CARE was Casting Crowns' "Lifesong". It's funny how you can hear a song so many times and it's just a song and then all of a sudden it totally applies to something huge in your life. The words are perfect:
Empty hands held high
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight
May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You
Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet
So yes, yours truly, got a little teary-eyed on the drive to the kick-off service listening to my song. The service was fantastic. If you can imagine a gym filled with men, women, and children in "Mission Possible" tshirts all ready to serve. It was short and sweet, pumped us all up before we left for each of our projects, and ended with a round of applause to the One orchestrating it all.
I oversaw a few projects that were being held at the church but I was able to deliver packed lunches with one of my girlfriends to two projects near by while they were taking place. One of the projects we were able to go to was at a grocery store in which a few of our volunteers were asking the patrons as they were entering the store if they'd like to buy an extra canned item to donate to the local food pantry. TRUST me when I tell you, this is NOT a project I would have signed up to do. I would not feel comfortable in the slightest doing that and truth be told, I even walk in the opposite entrance when I see Girl Scouts selling cookies at the grocery store I go to if I already have all the cookies I need for the year just to avoid them! But I got to witness this take place and meet Diane (on one entrance) who was representing our church. We arrived at noon with their lunches and they already had a human size BARREL FULL of food. While she was telling us about her day and how gracious and giving people had been, she said she asked one boy who was about 17 or 18 years old and she said when he came out, he handed her a whole grocery bag full of food. Just hearing that made me want to cry again and while she's still talking to us, a man walks out and hands her a bag FULL of mac&cheese boxes. That brought some tears. That was just the icing on the cake for me. I saw her story in action. I'm not a sissy. I just am brought to my knees with how gracious and compassionate people are when our economy is such a mess and so many people are without jobs right now.
At 2pm I had an appointment to pick up three HUGE trays of Baked Ziti at a small local restaurant in town called Prosciuttos. The owner, Joel, donated these casseroles to us which were to be used for a dinner this evening at a homeless shelter in Charlotte. When I pulled up, their staff was so kind to me. I was not able to meet Joel to thank him in person but his staff just repeatedly thanked ME and loaded the steaming hot casseroles in my car. It was enough food to feed SIXTY-FIVE of the 100 people our team was serving tonight! If you live in the area, go to Proschiuttos at Shops on the Green!!
When I arrived back at the church to transfer the casseroles, I was informed that $840 was donated during the car wash. Can you believe that!?
I can't wait for church tomorrow to hear all the other stories that took place today. It was an amazing day and I really hope I use all that I've learned the past few months and today not for next year's Project CARE: Mission Possible but throughout the year. It's not just a one day message.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. What better way to end this day than with the words from my theme song, "I want to sign Your name to the end of this day..."
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight
May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You
Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet
So yes, yours truly, got a little teary-eyed on the drive to the kick-off service listening to my song. The service was fantastic. If you can imagine a gym filled with men, women, and children in "Mission Possible" tshirts all ready to serve. It was short and sweet, pumped us all up before we left for each of our projects, and ended with a round of applause to the One orchestrating it all.
I oversaw a few projects that were being held at the church but I was able to deliver packed lunches with one of my girlfriends to two projects near by while they were taking place. One of the projects we were able to go to was at a grocery store in which a few of our volunteers were asking the patrons as they were entering the store if they'd like to buy an extra canned item to donate to the local food pantry. TRUST me when I tell you, this is NOT a project I would have signed up to do. I would not feel comfortable in the slightest doing that and truth be told, I even walk in the opposite entrance when I see Girl Scouts selling cookies at the grocery store I go to if I already have all the cookies I need for the year just to avoid them! But I got to witness this take place and meet Diane (on one entrance) who was representing our church. We arrived at noon with their lunches and they already had a human size BARREL FULL of food. While she was telling us about her day and how gracious and giving people had been, she said she asked one boy who was about 17 or 18 years old and she said when he came out, he handed her a whole grocery bag full of food. Just hearing that made me want to cry again and while she's still talking to us, a man walks out and hands her a bag FULL of mac&cheese boxes. That brought some tears. That was just the icing on the cake for me. I saw her story in action. I'm not a sissy. I just am brought to my knees with how gracious and compassionate people are when our economy is such a mess and so many people are without jobs right now.
At 2pm I had an appointment to pick up three HUGE trays of Baked Ziti at a small local restaurant in town called Prosciuttos. The owner, Joel, donated these casseroles to us which were to be used for a dinner this evening at a homeless shelter in Charlotte. When I pulled up, their staff was so kind to me. I was not able to meet Joel to thank him in person but his staff just repeatedly thanked ME and loaded the steaming hot casseroles in my car. It was enough food to feed SIXTY-FIVE of the 100 people our team was serving tonight! If you live in the area, go to Proschiuttos at Shops on the Green!!
When I arrived back at the church to transfer the casseroles, I was informed that $840 was donated during the car wash. Can you believe that!?
I can't wait for church tomorrow to hear all the other stories that took place today. It was an amazing day and I really hope I use all that I've learned the past few months and today not for next year's Project CARE: Mission Possible but throughout the year. It's not just a one day message.
Thank you for letting me share this with you. What better way to end this day than with the words from my theme song, "I want to sign Your name to the end of this day..."
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