sorry.

Uh oh...it has been awhile.  so sorry.  i will try to be better, although i don't know that my life is that interesting, lots of travel though.  maybe you will find my travels interesting.  my most recent trip was to Portland, OR to visit some friends.  they are my teammates from my year with Youth Encounter, and in the recent years have become friends.  this trip brought us to a delicious cuban restaurant, an art festival in downtown portland, cupcakes, rei, hiking, waterfalls, mini golf, guinea pigs, and rain!  so much fun.  i can't wait to go back.

Arizona, 1 million meals and Facebook free February

Arizona is my home away from home.  I love traveling down there, working the events and spending time with those beloved friends I have made there.  The event went very well; the goal was met, hearts were changed, and children were fed.  The presence of God was moving, the Word of God was active, and the Love of God was abundant.  

The latest event that I got to be a part of took place in Burnsville at Prince of Peace, and their goal was 1 million meals!  Wow!  What an incredible thing to be a part of...so many volunteers coming together to make an effort to give value to children's lives that they may never meet or know the names of.  It fills my heart to see volunteers moved by what they accomplish and know that their hearts have been changed.  And when their hearts are changed the world can change.  

One other event that I am taking part in is Facebook Free February.  I think I can do it, although what I use as a great connection tool will now be gone for a month, but hopefully I will not lose those connections but rather use other means.  We'll see what happens.  Although as I am typing this I don't quite know why I am doing this, I don't think i spend too much time on there...maybe it is just for solidarity with my friends who are needing a break from it. 

Brandon, South Dakota

I just got back from an event in Brandon, South Dakota.  We were at a public high school, which is pretty cool for us to be able to bring our ministry in.  They packed 106,000 meals in three shifts!  In our first shift of the day we had a ridiculous amount of volunteers, and we thought for sure that production would be down (usually when volunteer numbers get beyond a certain point, production goes down), but they blew me away and packed the most of any of the shifts!  One cell had 24 people at it (usually peak efficiency is between 13 and 16 volunteers) and they packed 29 boxes during their shift!  There was also a man that packed who does mission work in Haiti and actually receives the food.  It is neat to see the full circle for him, packing the food and then giving the food to people who need it!  There was a lot of family at this event too; we had parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins of our staff members coming to help...it was great!  

We drove down to the event...thus we had to drive back.  And the weather wasn't so great last night, so the roads were pretty slick and it was a slow drive home...but I laughed so much.  It was a fun staff to be stuck in a car with for 5 hours!  Now I have a couple days to recuperate until I head down to Phoenix!  

Back in the Windy City

I find myself traveling to Chicago a lot...which is fine by me!  I love seeing the familiar faces that I get to work with in Chicago, and the volunteers are always great.  This weekend I was in Burr Ridge at a church that hosted an event last year...so this was a second go-around.  We had 4 cells packing 100,000 meals in 6 shifts!  We had snow both days of the event, which postponed the loading of the truck until this morning, but that snow was beautiful!  Most of the day Saturday was a calm, big flake snow that had me in awe (can you tell I love winter?)!  During our last shift we had an incredible volunteer that deemed herself 'shift cheerleader.'  She spent the shift traveling throughout the room and encouraging everybody to pack faster to hit the 100,000 meal goal, it was so fun to watch!  She was always asking for updates, and she stayed after until we were all packed and cleaned up; she had such a servant heart, and an inspiration to me.  We also had a couple guys that came to 4 of the 6 shifts and they boxed every single time, didn't want variety, just to 'perfect their boxing technique.'  Funny!  

Next weekend...South Dakota!  

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.