Got some perspective

Every once in a while, really much more often than that, we all need an event to give us some perspective in our lives. Saturday was one of those times for me. Our church, for the second year, participated in a Stop Hunger Now food packaging event. Last year we started off packaging 20,000 meals to be sent out in the world to feed hungry people. They have found that when the people know there is food at their school, parents are more likely to send to their children to school. Malnutrition decreases, pregnancy rates decrease and the children just feel better since they have food in their tummies. Hunger could end in our lifetime and just be something our grandchildren read about on Wikipedia. There is enough food here. My brother made a kind of embarrassing(for me)comparison about how much of an impact could be made with a small sacrifice on our parts. Five venti carmel macchiatos from Starbucks, on each day of your work week, is the equivalent of 63 meals. Wow. Just something we drink. The Lego set my son got for his birthday, a $36 expense, is equal to 124 meals. I mean, come on. And I get where people say, "Why is it my problem? I don't live in Sudan or Belize or Zimbabwe. Not my problem." I guess I feel like I have been blessed with a lot and the thought of a little somebody with a hurting, empty tummy just kills me. So our church decided to do our part to bring an end to this horrible and solveable problem.

This year we decided to double our efforts from last year and package 40,000 meals in four hours. My brother, sister in law and I were super fired up. Last year's event had been so fun and so moving that we couldn't wait to do it again. Honestly, I think we would be Packaging Event gypsies and just go from venue to venue and help package meals if we were responsibility free. Alas we are not, so we do the best we can. The children were bummed that they had a soccer tournament that same day, but they set up and worked until the last minute before they needed to leave.






The hub wired up all the scales and sealers. I didn't take his picture since I figured he didn't want his rear end shown for all to see. He worked hard and rocked that hair and beard net. As the Beatles sang "Twist and Shout", people representing every generation in our church danced and poured and scooped and sealed the morning away. Representatives from the various missions our church supports were packing right along with us. Every 1,000 meals packed brought with them the gong, which various people rang with great gusto. In 3.5 hours, we were done. 40,000 meals like that. Last year's meals went to Belize and we anxiously await the notification of where this year's meals will be sent. When we sealed each box of rice and veggies and nutrients, we were humbled by the fact that the next hands to touch that food would be the people preparing and eating the meals. That's pretty heavy when you think about it. I don't take that lightly. Missions and events like these are not for everybody and I don't post this as a blog post guilt trip. I post it to remind myself how fortunate I am and how giving up little luxuries can make a huge impact for someone in need. I am so grateful for another Stop Hunger Now and missions weekend experience. I can't wait for another. My brother and I encourage you to attend a packing event near your city. It will be something you won't soon forget.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad