A pretty good day...

At church, I am an adult leader for our youth group -- LOLLY (Lord of Life Lutheran Youth) and they recently held a silent auction to raise money to purchase Thanksgiving meals for needy families. They donated babysitting, lawn mowing, food, even a plane ride from a parent. This Sunday was the end of the event and they were able to raise $360 that I used to purchase over 15 complete meals including a gift certificate for the turkeys in each. I delivered these items to Garner Area Ministries for distribution today. I expected the volunteers there to be inundated with items at this time of the year and maybe not as impressed by so much food at one time. But, boy, was I wrong!! They were all so grateful and helpful with everything. It really made me feel even better about what our youth group was able to accomplish.

After this, I stopped by Emma's school and read to her class while her teacher prepared the room for nap time. What a great way to feel good about yourself -- everyone fought over who would get to hug me more. They all wanted to be tucked in before I left. The pay may not be what is should be if you're a teacher, but all that love sure is a nice perk!!!

As part of the call committee at my church, I will be spending tonight in our last training session to prepare for this mission. We get to participate in a mock interview tonight. So far, it is an interesting process and I am really learning a lot. It's such an overwhelming responsibility but the training is helping me feel more prepared and able to handle to task. I'm working with such a great group of people -- so many wise and experienced people -- that I know it will be a learning experience all the way through.