Posts Tagged ‘spirituality’
Love in motion
Posted on: February 22, 2012
- In: Life | Quotes | spirituality | volunteering
- 2 Comments
I volunteer on Wednesdays at a community center in their soup kitchen. Sometimes I do other things to help out there too, but mainly I play waitress. We serve our guests restaurant style. We take their drink order and bring them utensils, then deliver a plate of food to their table. We greet them, ask how they are, chat with the ones who want to chat, smile at the ones who don’t. Some days it is very busy and the time passes in a blur. Other days you have more time to get to know people or to just take a slower pace. There are regulars and newcomers, old people and young, lot of children in the summer when school is out. For the most part everyone is polite and thankful.
Some days I stay after my serving shift and help with another project. The community center provides sacks of food through the area schools for children who are at risk of food insecurity to have something to eat over the weekends. We work in an assembly line, bagging fruit snacks, pudding cups, crackers, ramen noodles, grain bars and other snacks. I like doing this even though it is repetitive because we usually chat amongst ourselves and get to know the others who are helping out, and it is nice to know that what we are doing is helping a kid.
This week a local church I pass by often has their sign reading “Every person should go to church to get away from himself.” While I think it is great to go to church and all, I don’t really go a lot. Partly because of my work hours. But also partly because I haven’t found what I’m looking for yet.
I feel more like I think I should feel in church when I am serving food at the community center. If I had a sign maybe it would say “Every person should volunteer to get away from herself.” I know for sure that helping other people does wonders for my mood, and it sure gives me perspective for my problems.
There’s a sign at the center that says “Volunteers are love in motion.” I like to think that even if I can’t get it together religiously, at least my heart is in the right place.
The refrain of a song I learned in church long, long ago and that has been in my mind lately:
“Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love, show us how to serve the neighbors we have from you.”
Good Good Friday
Posted on: April 22, 2011
- In: fertility | Life | Misc
- 4 Comments
So, I had the HSG test today, and it went well. I was not in any kind of crazy pain, and the procedure went smoothly. It was uncomfortable and crampy, but luckily it went really quickly. And the really excellent news is that MY TUBES ARE OPEN! Super happy to know that! I got to see the x-rays immediately after, and by immediately I mean I was still sitting on the table with a sheet for clothing. It was kinda surreal to see something inside of me, even just the black hollow x-ray-ey looking kind. I saw uterus, ovaries and squiggly tubes. Yippie! Dr. L, the random radiologist of the afternoon, who wore a green camoflauge protective jacket, said nothing looked funky with any of the parts, and the x-rays clearly showed the dye spilling through the fallopian tubes.
After I received a complimentary phonebook-sized pad for the road, I was good to go. Honey Bear picked me up and we went to lunch. It was sweet that he volunteered to drive me in case I was feeling bad afterwards. Aww. But as it turned out, I was only a little crampy off and on for the rest of the day. So. Happy. About. That.
After Chick-fil-a-ing and Hobby Lobbying with Honey Bear, he went to watch baseball and I went to church for the Good Friday service. Church was good. Standing up during the entire reading of the passion of Christ is kinda long, but I guess you gotta think, hey, quit whining, this ain’t near as bad as, say, getting crucified. This service was bilingual, so I spent a good portion of it reading the English translation projected on the wall. I had never venerated a cross before. And by venerated, I mean kissed, cause that is what they asked us to do. To kiss the hands or feet of Jesus. I wasn’t really expecting that, nor was I expecting that between each kiss an alter kid would be sanitizing your kiss mark with a wipe. First time for everything. Probably my favorite part was singing “Were You There” which is a song I like a lot.
Hung out at the bookstore later. Had coffee and a strawberry tart. Browsed books.
Kicking back now, enjoying a Woodchuck hard cider. A toast to my lady parts. Cheers!
And a big thanks to all of you who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers and were hoping for a good Good Friday for me!
