Today was an exciting day! (not IF related!)

Today will go down as one of the most exciting days of my life. It was a first for me. A first for us. Today, N and I helped with the annual "Food Drop" at our church. Through a special drive, a Christmas Offering, the church purchased food and personal care items from Feed the Children (FTC).

The church assembled the boxes a few months ago. The church packed the boxes last month at the local FTC warehouse. And today, the church bought the boxes (over 6,000!), unloaded them from 8 FTC semis throughout the community, and delivered them to 20 community agencies and 13 neighborhoods. In some areas, people went door-to-door to deliver the items. This event alone will serve over 3,000 families.

I am inspired by the generousity of our church. Our community has been hit hard by the economic down-turn. Our county has the highest unemployment rate in our state. However, over 2,000 people arrived by 9am on a Saturday morning in heavy snow to serve God and our community. It is amazing to be a small part of such a wonderful group of people who care for others and are working to bring "up there, down here".

I'll close with this verse my pastor posted on his blog this afternoon:

2 Corinthians 8:2-5 - Although they were going through hard times and were very poor, they were glad to give generously. They gave as much as they could afford and even more, simply because they wanted to. They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God's people. And they did more than we had hoped.