A reason to be thankful.

Last week I felt a calling to get involved in an outreach activity I heard about that takes place on Thanksgiving morning.  There is a family that goes to my church that started a tradition 7 years ago that involves donating items in downtown Portland to those that do not have a permanent home.  Over the years the donations and volunteers have grown and I felt that this was a wonderful calling for me and the boys to serve.  At this point, the boys haven't been exposed to many situations that show others going through challenging times.  I asked if there was room for a few more volunteers and we were all set.  As an added bonus, our dear friends Nicole and son, Gage, had also signed up to volunteer as well.

So Thanksgiving morning found us bundled in many layers and driving down the street to meet up with all of the volunteers and supplies.  After an initial meeting, we carpooled downtown and met up by the 'bronze elephant' in the Park Blocks.  We separated into 3 groups (to cover more ground), grabbed a wagon of hot chocolate and pre-packaged cinnamon rolls for immediate sustenance, multiple suitcases full of supplies and hit the streets.

Our objective was simply to empty our luggage with items to those in need that we came across.  Some suitcases had socks and tarps, Maddox's suitcase had women's scarves rolled around gloves and a hat, and food packs (ziploc bags filled with juice boxes and snacks), my suitcase was filled with men's scarf packs, toiletry items, and food packs, and Dylan's suitcase was filled with toiletry packs (ziploc bags filled with toothpaste, deoderant, chapstick, etc.).  If we walked up on someone that looked like they could use something we had, we approached them with items and asked if they would like anything.  The boys did so awesome, they passed out their items and said "Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone we came across.

The people we met were all very gracious and appreciative.  We stopped at one well-known entrance where Dylan asked "Are we in China?"  Kind of.  A major stop we made was at the Salvation Army shelter where the boys had to stay outside with the men in our group as only females were allowed inside.  We unloaded most of our suitcases here.  The weather was perfect and we were all humbled by the blessings we have.  I really hope the boys saw a different side of life with this experience.

Later that afternoon we hit Grandma & Grandpa's house for a fabulous Thanksgiving feast.  We were all painfully stuffed after dinner and were able to relax and enjoy each other's company.  It was a wonderful day and I felt appreciative of everything the good Lord has blessed me with.  Thank you Jesus for another year of good health and an amazing array of family and friends.