#LIGHTtheWORLD Dec 1

As we begin this month of service adventure, i must say that I am completely amazed at how much more even day one has done for me than I am sure I did for anyone else.

We planned our evening with chosen individuals that might need a burden lifted with a sweet treat and a friend. Each home we visited welcomed us with warmth and gratitude. For this, I am grateful.

In one home, we found a sister, struggling with her own challenges in life, sitting at her kitchen table sewing pajamas and night gowns for sisters, neighbors, and friends who she felt were in greater need than her self. We were able to help hang valences that she was not able to reach, be lifted in love and friendship, and in the end, walked out with a gift of our own.

We were blessed to drop in on another family who we have not seen in several weeks. We were concerned for their health and welfare. Again, we were welcomed with love and charity. As we visited, we learned that they had been disconnected from our line of contact because they had been helping "Refugee" family members of sorts get acclimated to changes in their own lives. They had open the doors to their small and humble home to a different family each week, helping them get medical attention, having a place to crash for a short period to get back on their feet, and all the while trying too maintain their own humble circumstances.

Such love and blessings of inspiration for me.

But that is not all, I was overwhelmed to read stories of those who had been served, unknowingly, and how they were now excited to find ways to pay it forward.

Groceries were paid for, stolen bikes were replaced, generosity overflowed from so many sources. What a wonderful way to start the month, thinking of Christ and how He lifted burdens. As we seek to do the same, our own burdens are lightened.