I have rarely worked outside of our home for the past 19 years... That changed this past year as I accepted a part time pre-school teaching position at our churches school. I LOVED it and Levi and Isaiah were able to come and be a part of my class...
But lets be honest... my own home is pretty full of little ones, and after getting Kaliyah it just felt right be give up that job...
I picked up a very part time job at Feed My Starving Children... FMSC...
Strangely enough, I pretty much took Louis' job after he moved from the site here in town to FMSC's mobilepack division... Funny thing taking over my son's job...
I am so thankful for my blood family, my church family... and this year the addition of my FMSC family... and that is truly what it is...
We pray together before the evening shifts... We have a common goal in mind, to feed God's kids hungry in body and spirit...
Seriously, every time I share a story of one of the kids we have fed, I can't help but picture my own kids...
Why are we so fortunate and blessed to live here and have all our needs taken care of... I can't imagine watching one of my own kids wither away... all because they don't have enough food to eat... So hard...
So what is FMSC's answer... our meal packs... at $.22 a meal we are turning hunger into hope and all done by the hands of volunteers... Last year alone they packed 272 million meals!
This past weekend at our Hope Filled Holiday Mobilepack, right in our hometown, we packed over 1.4 million meals... It was amazing to be a part of...
God was moving and the volunteers came out despite the snowstorm that dumped somewhere between 7-12 inches of snow on our city...
Even Isaiah came to help... Turns out... he wasn't much help... But he sure was cute!
Nearly 200 of our St. Peter family came out to help us pack at the last session of the day! It was like my two worlds were colliding... and I loved it! It is such a gift to serve alongside all of them!
Here is the St. Peter group after the packing session! Great looking bunch!
FMSC is a non profit so it isn't like anyone works there for the big bucks... I am so impressed by the hearts of those I work with... A big handful of site workers and volunteers came out to the mobilepack and gave of their time to help... They was a huge blessing during clean up as well!
They work and serve with us because they believe that when we all work together we can be the change that is so needed... Taking the eyes off of ourselves on onto those who REALLY need the help!
My sweet friend Gina at Hope Filled Holiday...
The Mobile pack team for Hope Filled Holiday... Woot woot... we got the job done! And we were all exhausted after 3 very long, but super amazing days!
Where else can you possibly come pack food with the Storm Troopers?
One of my friends from FMSC even took the time to make these amazingly delicious and beautifully decorated cupcakes with the FMSC logo on them for Lou's graduation party a couple of months ago. She is so talented...
This kids expression says it ALL when he found out how many kids they fed for a year after their packing session... How precious is that?
All by the grace of God that this food gets packed, shipped out, and these kids get fed! We believe in the power of prayer and every single box of food is prayed over after it is packed and before it is shipped!
I can't even fully explain it... I love mission work and often dream of just packing up the whole crew and heading to a far off land to serve... (Never would have said that 9 years ago!) But it is almost like taking the mission field right here in our back yard...
A friend from work laughed when I told her, coming in to work is like a vacation... Being a mom to 8 kids and all that entails... the cooking, cleaning, teaching, training of little ones can be overwhelming and exhausting... But even though working at FMSC can be very physical, it still fills me up!
I have seen it proven time and time again that God had specific reasons for me to get hired on at FMSC... He is so faithful to put us right where He needs us at the right time. I am so thankful!
So here we are... a 45 year old mom of 8 living kids hustling around filling ingredients, moving packed boxes, cleaning sinks and I couldn't be happier to do it! I have made some of the sweetest friendships... I get to interact with so many people that never would be a part of my everyday mom life.
There is something about being a part of something so much bigger than you.... all done to care for God's kids and for HIS glory!
