I arrived to the house where we have been meeting and was greeted by a bunch of friends sitting on the floor cutting and tying blankets, laughing, and eating donuts( YES) I just looked for a second and realized how WARM the house and scene felt.( It was also like negative degree weather outside so that could have helped the feeling) But it just made me SO happy seeing the crowd that I was so lucky to be involved with and just thought about how grateful I was for all of their examples. Also, obviously it has felt like the holidays have been approaching..The cold weather..Christmas music on the radio..pretty much CHRISTMAS everywhere..But it hadn't really hit me yet like other people.. but it did tonight when I walked in that door and saw others giving their time to help others feel a little warmer for the holiday season. That is really what these next two holidays are really about. Being grateful and giving to others. That is what makes it special..There is no greater gift than the act of serving others or being served...The greatest gifts are not found in ribbons under the Christmas tree.
We finished up the blankets and split up into groups to go into the cold city to pass out blankets and donuts to the homeless. We went along searching for people who looked like they needed some warmth. There was this one guy in particular that just made my entire night! He was passing the street and Ty rolled down the window and asked if he would like a blanket. The guy hurried over saying, " Heck yeah! THANK YOU!" You could just tell how thankful he was and could see that he had a good soul...He wrapped himself in the blanket and then turned andddddd almost got hit by a taxi..So that was not cool..But he just joked with us and was guiding traffic with his hands for a minute and then crossed back over. He said goodbye and we parted ways. I am just glad he did not get hit by a taxi... That would have been major service points am I right?? Putting someone in the hospital..
Our last stop about broke my heart. We saw a group laying close together on the grass trying to stay warm and hurried over with the blankets.. Their hands were so cold that we spread out the blankets across their bodies for them. It crushed me as I saw one of the ladies getting all cozy with a big smile as though she just became the luckiest girl in the world. This other lady ran up to my friend and just said, " I will do anything to get a blanket." She was a darling woman. It was such a humbling experience seeing these people so extremely excited to get a little blanket...Whereas we got home and worried about if we have a CUTE enough blanket for our bed. We got back in the car and Nicole just said, " How lucky are we that we get to go HOME..to a warm house...to a warm bed.."
" As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping other"- Audrey Hepburn
I didn't really make an effort to take photos to put on here..But here are a few from my snapchats haha.. So fun!
You don't want know how many I had... Again with that whole spontaneous bad eating habits right now... Probably because I saw this one quote that said if a girl weighs more they are less likely to be kidnapped..So I wanna live a little longer.. eat the donuts.
I hope you all can find ways to serve this holiday season..No matter how big or small the act is, the feeling that one gets is never forgotten and can make such a big impact! You might not know how big of impact a small act of service did for someone..And the greatest feeling is when you will NEVER know but do it anyways and instead just KNOW that you served someone and that it doesn't come from praise but from the feeling you get. Use the other hand to help others..Thats why you have two!
-Ash
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