Every Tuesday we give out boxes of food to the people of the neighborhood. The way it works is, that they have to make an appointment to receive a box.
Each week we have up to 30 appointments, each appointment representing between 1 and 8 people per household.
Each week we have the food to serve all 30 appointments and each week we have between 8 and 15 no shows. It's frustrating, because we want to help them with food. But if they don't ca
ll and then come late or don't show up at all, they forfeit their appointment and at the moment I can't even reschedule them until a month from now.
Today though, was different. Today, almost ALL of our 32 (!) appointments came, representing 80 individuals that were able to receive food today. There were only 5 no shows, which is unheard of in the history (1 year) of grocery assistance.
And on top of that... Today almost everybody was so grateful... I'm not sure you can imagine how hard it is to cheerfully hand a box of free food to someone who in return demands chicken instead of the beef in the box, refuses to take the bananas, because 'they attract bugs' or gets mad at you when they find out there's no coffee.
I really like helping people. And I really like it best on days like today... When everybody comes in, no missed appointments, no complaints, no verbal abuse (oh yes, that happens)... Just a fairly straight forward time of helping people make ends meet.
Days like today help me remember why I do what I do. Days like today make me grateful and help me continue to pray for the people of our neighborhood.
Days like today help me go through the days when I feel like a punching bag; when everyone who walks through our door seems to see something wrong with the way we serve them; when it's just not fun.
Thank you Jesus, for reminding me how much I like helping people. I learn from the best.
Church was almost over. It was almost time to go.
Actually I hadn't really spend any time IN church. I mean, I was here and all, but was feeling so sick that I ended up spending most of the time outside the doors of the auditorium. But going home was out of the question, because this afternoon I was hanging out with him again.
I was pretty excited. We usually hung out once a month. Always on a Sunday, although I'd wondered about that. I'd always thought he was busy on Sundays.
Anyway, once church was over I was going to go and meet up with him at the strip and we were going to hang out for the afternoon.
It's not that we don't hang out any other time. But these times were just more... special. It was just him and me. Sometimes we just sat and talked, sometimes he dragged me into the 'wilderness' and sometimes we just decided to check out stuff on the strip... Like today.
Church was finally over and I couldn't wait to leave. Still not feeling 100%, but that was ok.
I drove over to one of the biggest casinos on the strip, parked the car and walked over to our meeting point. As always I was the one who was late. But I knew it didn't matter.
He beamed at me when I got there and we hugged. Man, I was so excited to see him. Although... I decided to come right out with it...
'So, I know it's my turn to come up with food options, but... well, I don't have the money for lunch today. So I was thinking, we could just not eat today. Or maybe later at home?'
'Dudette, I got a surprise for you!'
And with that we started walking towards the market research center.
I had no clue what he was up to. Surprises I expected, but the thought of lunch I could probably kiss good bye. While he totally enjoyed having a meal together he was not one for actually carrying any sort of cash or other payment methods.
We walked down the casino walkways, pretended that we couldn't walk on any red tiles, which meant we had to hop every now and then to keep on going. Some people were looking at us funny, but I didn't care. If they only knew how cool it was to spend the whole afternoon with him.
We finally made it to the market research center. For today we had decided to do a little market research and help out the world by watching a TV show and rating it.
He grabbed a pair of tickets that were almost shoved into out face as we walked up to the counter. The whole deal was for free. You just needed to show ID and bring a bit of time.
We were lucky and had a show starting the minute we arrived (although I wouldn't put it past him that he'd arranged this). We snagged the last 2 seats and listened to the instructions. Then the show finally started.
It was a fun show and I was totally engaged in the whole deal, almost sad by the time it was over. We rated the show and then made our way out of there.
I almost just left, but he said, no, let's wait for the instructor to give us our 'parting gift'. I remembered that the people at the counter had mentioned that we would get some vouchers and stuff.
'Let's just go. Even the 2 for 1's are useless when you don't even have enough money for the 1.'
But he resisted and we waited until the instructor had finished helping someone. She came over and gave us 2 envelopes.
Once outside he gave them to me to open... I was stunned to see that the first one had $20 bill in it. Unbelieving I looked up into his eyes.
He just smiled and said 'It's a special they have today.'
I opened the second envelope and saw a bunch of coupons. He helped me sort through them until he found the one he was looking for. $5 off any purchase at a coffee shop...
'Do you suppose it'll work even just for drinks?' I asked.
He smiled and took my hand and we walked to the coffee shop. I ordered the biggest frappocino they had and paid 39 cents for it. That was lunch.
'Ready for the rest of the afternoon' he asked.
'I'm ready Jesus, let's go.'
If you don't know something, then you don't care - because you don't know.
If we would know ALL the injustices going on in the world, we'd probably spend our days curled up in a ball on the floor, crying, because we wouldn't be able to deal with it.
But once something grabs your attention and you hear the stories of what's really going on, that's when your ignorance turns into action.
Living in Las Vegas there's injustice all around me and I'm well aware of the poverty, sex trafficking, drugs etc.
But for me
it's always been about youth. I like hanging out with teens and there are all kinds of teens all over the world.
Some, when asked to DREAM, write: 'I want to get a job. Any job.'
Some don't say much, but rather let their fists do all the talking.
And some are so lost in the tangled web of 'normal' that they don't think anything is wrong.
Normal these days means you have to care about parents, teachers, friends, peers and coaches.
Caring about those people means watching what you wear, what you eat, what you say, what you do, how you look, what phone you have, what sports you play, what sports you watch, what music you like, who you like and who you don't like, if he/she likes you and why, what car your Mum drives, what movies you like, what you buy, where you go and how long you are there.
These pressures are real. We can smile about them, belittle them and do whatever we want to, but they are real in the lives of young people.
And that list doesn't even include all the things that kids from broken families have to care about.
I dare you to try and split your life in half, live in different houses and rooms every other week, pretend that you like that life style, pretend that it doesn't matter that the person you love most doesn't live with you anymore.
Kids are some of the best liars when it's about pleasing the people they love. Yes, I am sorry to tell you, but if you have heard your kid say, that he/she is doing fine with the divorce and all that comes with it, then he/she probably just lied.
Here's an excerpt from the Movie 'Fame'. I think it has some truth to it. What do you think?
My theory is that when parents get divorced they’re given some kind of a handout.
When my parents were splitting they told me 3 things
1. It’s not your fault
2. It’s not your fault and
3. It’s not your fault.
The problem is I don’t buy it. No kid does. I’ve seen the pictures of when you got married, when you were good-looking and you smiled at each other, hell when you even just looked at each other. so what happened between then and now?
ME
I came along and I made you tired and cranky and anxious and I made you lose your hair and gain 20 extra pounds and somewhere in all of that you stopped loving each other.
So I have my own idea for a handout. Next time tell me
1. Happiness is hard
2. Don’t make the same mistakes that we did
And 3. Ok so maybe it is your fault a little
You want me to be honest, you go first.
ll and then come late or don't show up at all, they forfeit their appointment and at the moment I can't even reschedule them until a month from now. 
