The congregants of our church didn’t meet at our normal spot on Sunday.
Instead of singing, they replaced house siding.
Instead of sermonizing, the pastor cleaned moss off a roof and donned an alien mask to look for rats in a crawlspace.
Instead of collecting tithes, donated chemicals doused the black mold infiltrating the bedrooms. (No photo. No one needs to see that.)
Instead of coffee and treats after the service, Kaleo Covenant paired with Catalyst-Partnerships Northwest to help a family in need make their home a safe place to live.
I am proud of my friends who selflessly gave last weekend to help this family. If you look carefully, you will notice I am absent from the group picture. I took it easy and served behind the scenes.
While parents painted, hammered, and scrubbed, I signed up to watch their children. Yes, I carry a bit of guilt not appearing at the construction site. Instead of sweating and back pain, I held babies, played blocks, and bonded with my friend Jessica, also on kid patrol.
I learned many lessons from my resolution/experiment last year. God has blessed each of us with individual gifts. My husband and our youngest are gifted with the desire to work outside and to not mind if dirt gets under their fingernails. Our eldest and me? Well, we’d rather play with babies.
The work Catalyst-Partnerships provides for our community benefits many families. If you live in the Portland area and are blessed with the gift of getting dirty, check out their website for future projects in the area.
If you live anywhere and are blessed with the gift of finance, donations for materials are always needed and welcome.
Maybe you’re blessed with the gift of golf? Join friends of Catalyst for their 2013 Golf Marathon on Saturday, May 18. You can fundraise yourself or pledge to pay someone else to play 100 holes. My friend, Kirsten, will sport golf clubs that day and I’ll be right behind her. In spirit. (Golf is another gift I have not been blessed with.)
What’s your passion in volunteering? Are you a “get dusty, dirty, and painted on” kind of person, or do you prefer less manual labor in your service activities?
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*Many thanks to the Pastor’s Wife who took the photos. She worked hard while I played with toy cars and plastic zoo animals.
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