Chicago

In Chicago again.  I love coming here for events!  This particular event is at a church that had an event this summer which I worked, and now I am back.  It always warms my heart to see familiar faces, and it is nice knowing what to expect when to arrive at an event.  This event is unique in that we are working this weekend and next weekend, and I get to work both.  I guess that is a perk to being full-time!  

At each shift they have a volunteer shift leader who introduces our orientation and also walks around during the packing shift to make sure everything is going smoothly.  It is really nice to have that extra person who knows what to do.  It makes our job easier!  Some of these shift leaders were volunteers at the summer event and now have stepped into a leadership role at this event; I think that is a really cool aspect of this church, their desire to connect people with their passions and plug them in!  

It is good to be here.

Nashville, TN

I just finished the Nashville event, and the first word that comes to mind to describe it is wow! This event was insane.  We were having 450 volunteers at a time pack at 40 funnels!  In one 2 hour packing shift we packed 645 boxes with approximately 139,000 meals!  Those numbers to happen at every event (nor should they), but it was incredible to be a part of something this large.  It wasn't just about the numbers though, the volunteers that helped were incredible.  The planning committee and people who stayed for the whole day were encouraging and amazing.  Since the event was put together by three christian record companies we had artists, producers, songwriters, and managers come and pack food.  There was a concert over lunch.  And I trained Jeremy Camp on my warehouse crew and watched him haul boxes and scoop rice.  It was very surreal, but cool to see the industry people reach beyond themselves to stand against starvation.  It was a very spiritual event for me as well...God challenging and tugging at my heart strings.  I am exhausted though.  We packed 428,000ish meals in one day!  I love my job.  I still have a hard time believing that I get to be a part of this...to be a vessel of God's love in this way is incredible.  And now I get to fly home and fly back out the same day for an event in Chicago!  What an adventure my life is right now.

So busy

I have been so busy lately!  So many events have gone by without my comments regarding them.  Lets see...last week I was in Amery, WI.  It was fun because I worked at camp right outside of Amery for three summers, it was good to go back...many things have changed.  Most of all I miss Grandma Bonnie's.  The event was jam-packed with school kids, most of the day shifts were filled with them.  The evenings were families.  There was a great and supportive volunteer crew to help us out.  My favorite story from the event was when a two year old girl asked her mom why they were feeding kids; the mom replied that they were feeding kids because they were nice and the little girl said 'i'm not nice, i'm naughty.'  I laughed so hard!  Before Amery was Phoenix.  This event was a great one also.  We got to spend a lot of time with an incredible family that is doing a lot of work for Feed My Starving Children in the area.  They have beautiful hearts and I felt blessed to be able to call them friends.  We also got to spend time with another friend, who warms my heart and makes me laugh.  We saw God working a lot through this event...we were sure we wouldn't hit the meal goal.  So we prayed hard and trusted that if we provided the space, God would provide the volunteers.  And of course He did and we made the goal!  

Up next...Nashville tuesday through thursday, and Chicago thursday through sunday.  They will both be great events, so stay tuned for more details.