Month: November 2018

I am on my very first Helpers of People leave and it has been nothing short of amazing. It has been a tremendous time of renewal, time with my family, blessing others, and being blessed.

Due to my job responsibilities, I spend a great deal of time traveling, thus am away from my family quite often. These two weeks have provided me necessary time at home to spend with my family. My favorite moments of these two weeks have been the mornings; drinking coffee with my wife and watching Peppa Pig with my daughter. Additionally, due to the fabulous weather, I have had the opportunity to take my daughter to the park on several occasions. This has been a true joy.

For my service project, I helped one of DIG’s family members, as well as my wife’s grandmother whose house needed some vital work. Each of these projects left me feeling spiritually rejuvenated. There is just something about working with your hands, in relative solitude, and having time to think. These times are often when my mind is most clear and I feel God’s presence. I am not always as giving as my time as I should be, but this HOP leave just leaves me feeling stumped as to why I can be so selfish with my time. I am grateful beyond words for this opportunity.

I also want to thank all of my co-workers for pulling extra weight these past two weeks. Without the team that we have, these opportunities would not be possible.

The second week was vacation week.

I had booked a flight for my mom and I extremely early on a Tuesday morning, and we spent the night before with my daughter and her husband.  It was great getting to spend time with them and catching up.

A few years ago, Cher was in concert in Dallas.  My mom and I have since regretted not being able to go.  Mom is a huge fan of her music.  In September, I was looking for places to spend a vacation, and I came across that Cher would be in concert in Vegas for some of the dates of my vacation.  I then found a really great deal for the flight plus hotel room.  I did a little more money-saving investigative work and found that if I booked within a certain date, 2 free tickets to shows would be thrown in.  One of the shows was to see Cher in concert.  That sealed the deal.

On Tuesday of vacation week, my mom and I were in Vegas.  Since our flight landed very early, we were pleasantly surprised that we were immediately allowed to check into our room.  I have never been to Vegas and did not know what to expect.  My mom and I had a great time.  We laughed so hard, and I always enjoy spending time with her.

My mom comes in a petite package of total energy.  I have a very hard time keeping up with her, but I try to because I don’t want to miss out on any fun.  We saw a magic show, a mystery dinner show, and the reason why we went:  Cher.  We were standing up and dancing to the great music.  We had a wonderful time.  We are already talking about when we should go back.

Thank you so much for this time away from work.  I greatly appreciate it.

I returned last week from a wonderful mini Sabbatical.

I went to WI for the Hearts of Hope camp with a group from FD.  I was a helper bee and buzzed around to different parts of the camp helping wherever and whenever needed.  Hearts of Hope is a grief camp that serves families affected by the death a loved one.  It is amazing to see the transformation that these sweet families go through just over the course of a weekend.  Some come to the camp mad, and by the end of the weekend, they are laughing and smiling.  I have confidence that the seeds of hope are planted into each camper.

When I returned from WI, I spent the week delivering Meals on Wheels.  This is a great organization.  I always enjoy delivering meals.  It makes me sad to think that sometimes, the only person one might see all day is the one delivering the meal.  I had two different routes that week.  This was great because I was able to see and visit with the same people throughout the week.  On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, deliveries were made to a group of different apartment complexes.  Monday was a little bit of a challenge because this one particular complex had different building numbers that did not go in numerical order.  So by the time Wednesday and Friday rolled around, I knew those complexes really well.  On Tuesday and Thursday, I had our regular FD route that we take turns delivering to on Fridays.  There was one gentleman that I very much enjoyed visiting with on those two days.  His positive outlook was something to strive toward.  If you talk to him and don’t walk away with a smile, something is wrong.

The Helpers of People week was very rewarding.  I am glad I was able to go to camp and deliver meals.

What a blessing to have this week to help other people and that is exactly what I did! The first part of the week, I went to see my mother who lives in an independent living facility in Tulsa near my sister, Judy. My mom went to live near Judy about a year ago and is doing great! Judy takes such good care of our mom and we are so grateful for her doing this, since my father passed away in 2015. Judy and I are very close and she was very grateful that I came up to spend some time with my mom, which gave my sister a break. My mother is 87 years old and is in good health! She broke her hip back in 2015 and has to be in a wheelchair, so our assistance is very much needed. My mom and I worked puzzles, played cards and just visited about my dad and her family. She has met so many friends and everyone in the facility truly loves my mom and loves being around her. She has such a positive outlook on life, so I got just as much out of the visit as she did!

The second part of the week, I worked at PACN of Conroe. It is always such a pleasure to work with these ladies and men who volunteer their time to help our young girls and boys going through such a difficult time in their life. When I called Teri, the Administrator and asked if she could use me, she immediately said yes. She is always so grateful of my time. She said since I had done such a good job the last time I volunteered, she asked me to organize and sort out the baby food, diapers and other items that are donated by our local merchants. It is amazing to see how much is donated to this organization. This organization is really making a difference in this community. Thank you FDLIC for the opportunity to serve in this capacity!