Today I enjoyed an AMAZING experience sharing the love of Christ in the community of Raleigh with Our Lady of Lourdes, One Day for Him outreach mission. In its second year, this event pools the resources of our parish to follow Christ's command to go forth and proclaim his love. Love of Christ is more than rhetoric and rules...the very heart of Christ's mission is salvation through mercy and love...we are all formed in love and by need of mercy. Mercy and Love are active organs and muscles in our lives - we need to exercise love and compassion in all things - in doing so we find joy and give joy.
In this service project, hundreds of parish volunteers, donated their time, money and supplies to help over thirty non-profits in the Triangle. The non-profits stretched across every sector of at-risk and needs areas of the community - from assisting the homeless, to education, community gardening and more....
My mom and I signed up to volunteer at North Raleigh Ministries, a wonderful resource for the community assisting neighbors in critical need. Here is the statement from their website:
North Raleigh Ministries provides neighbors in crisis with crucial assistance in a Christian environment. Our vision is to be the primary agency in North Raleigh to help struggling neighbors achieve self sufficiency.
North Raleigh Ministries is a Christ-centered ministry located in the North Raleigh area that, among other projects, has three main ministries to help our neighbors in need.- The first is our Crisis Center, which is a place for our neighbors in crisis to come and receive financial assistance for their water, electric or rent bills. Most of our Crisis Center neighbors are temporarily struggling and simply need a helping hand to get back on their feet.
- The second ministry is our Client's Choice Market. The Market is a place where neighbors who are having trouble feeding their families can come and receive food assistance. The Market is set up like a any other food market and is a place where neighbors can come and choose their own groceries.
- The Thrift Shoppe is a large, well-organized store that is open for anyone to come and purchase items such as gently-used clothing, shoes, furniture, books, toys and more. All proceeds from the Thrift Shoppe go directly towards the other two ministries.
I was unfamiliar of this ministry until I signed up through the 1 Day for Him volunteer page. I chose this non-profit because I work in retail and thought I could be of assistance in sorting clothes and merchandising.
Twelve volunteers showed up for this volunteer event - families and retirees - all committing to spreading the seeds of love for sowing.
The North Raleigh Ministries store is the best second-hand shop I have been in. The facility is large, and located in a great shopping center adjacent to family friendly shops and restaurants (Goodberrry's, Sassool, Galleria). It is well-organized with the foundation's TLC radiating through the shop.
As a shopper, I was impressed by the awesome buys...Ann Taylor Loft Pant only $2.99, fun decorations, books and children's clothes...this is a great all stop shop for back to school and beyond.
We were tasked with several different cleaning and organizing projects. I and several other volunteers cleaned the dressing rooms and put away stock, before organizing racks. I have a secret (I love to organize clothing racks and to size clothes! It is therapy at work) I enjoyed speaking to a few customers and assisting them during my volunteer shift.
My mom enjoyed sorting jewelry with Sister Renee....
It was an amazing experience and I hope to volunteer with North Raleigh Ministries again!
Website about the organization: http://www.northraleighministries.com/about-us
Website for 1Day4Him: http://www.ourladyoflourdescc.org/ministry-descriptions/stewardship/1Day4Him_ParticipatingMinistries.pdf
On Volunteering:
I love to volunteer because it forces you to step outside of your narrow boundaries and converse neighbors and strangers with different backgrounds - all tied together by the thread of humanity and in that humanity the humanity of love and God's love for us. That love permeates every culture and person - no matter how much we fill ourselves with temporal wants and desires - we will lack every good thing when we don't go forth in love. Love is rich and deep - making us search for questions and seek those who are lost. At times we chastise, but love seeks reconciliation and resting in our differences. It is opening our mind and hearts up to this amazing world around us.
The past two months I have been battling some issues with Celiac Disease and it left me facing some trials and questions, but God revealed HIS love even in the suffering and helped me see the big picture. While we can all get frustrated by the things we don't have and the rude behaviors in this world - many of these are legitimate frustrations - when we become so geared towards being frustrated we lose sight of hope and the goodness we do have. Grace is always around us - even in dark spaces. I have had a lot of stress about my job and career and money...during this battle with illness - my car died and needed a large repair...stress was off the roof...I turned to God I received peace and at times questions meant to make me grow and challenge my thought patterns. Sometimes to truly move forward we have to accept grace and change our outlook.
The things that frustrated me are frustrating, but I am finding joy in the simplest of life's treasures - from watching a movie on Netflix, to going to church, to reading a book and even folding clothes at work. I am learning to cast that frustration into God's net and allow myself to be present in the moment, while also not overwhelmed by the moment. Grounded in love yields a fruit of peace and awareness not akin to a guru on a mountaintop out of touch with reality, but rather being grounded in the enormous grace of this life and ordinary blessings - which are extraordinary...the more we find blessings in things like bananas and sunflowers we see God and our humanity more clearly...we realize how small we are and in that humility...how loved and blessed we are...in acknowledging self-love we discover the true human desire to love one another as God has loved us and that is a journey for a lifetime...a journey of growth, falling down, getting up and asking forgiveness and giving it time and time again....this is a pilgrimage - the journey is the adventure and we are not ready for the destination - because life is a labyrinth worth its weight in glorious detours and expeditions...just make sure to keep our compass set on love and we can rest even in the storms.
In being more mindful and present we are able to discern how to problem solve and help our neighbors and to meet each crisis with Christ in us; the love in us...God works through HIS shepherd, Christ and I believe Christ is at work in every human soul....his voice is love and that voice is heard in compassion, laughter among friends, a great song and experiencing the beauty of a tree blowing in the wind.
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Saturday Blessings:
I have been keeping a journal of my daily blessings and itinerary to help remember the many great experiences I find even in ordinary spaces.
After volunteering at North Raleigh Ministries, my mom and I perused a fun and creative marketplace of shops called Galleria...I loved the fun Halloween decorations, Christian art, Cat motifs and other funky house décor...I love anything creative and offbeat - so this was a true treat...time to save some money, because I think I could buy out this store :)
We investigated several of the shopping area's restaurants including a sandwich and wine bar that looks fabulous....
I'm a little broke until payday so we decided to go to Wendy's which is a rarity - I like Wendy's - they have the best 'healthy' fast food...I am stretching healthy, but I got a salad and blackberry lemonade.
I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon giving a friend a ride to get something to eat (she doesn't have a car - something I faced last month)
This evening we went to Hillsborough - my favorite getaway to stumble through the colonial neighborhoods, enjoy a drink at the Weaver Street Co-Op and a hike at Gold Park. I look forward to returning to Hillsborough soon. It is a great spot to visit for the day for the entire family!
