Since we moved, I decided it was time to volunteer in our community.  At first I thought it would be offering office work or my photography skills to a ministry but it came down to talking to people who have quite a bit less than me.  I’ve always enjoyed meeting new people, no matter their situation.  If you think about it, we all have our little quirks.  We all have something about ourselves that others may consider weird.  God calls it unique! 

I’ve met many people recently that work hard but still can’t make ends meet.  I’ve met ones disabled that lived paycheck to paycheck prior to an accident and now don’t have enough food.  Sure, there’s always the ones that work the system but in the midst of that are the ones that do try and still struggle.  Those are the ones that break my heart.  The ones that tear up while asking for help.  Their pride shattered because they can’t provide for themselves or their family.

Our pastor recently shared the three facts below and it really hit home how much my family and I have to be thankful for.  

* If you earn more than two dollars a day, you are earning more money per day than 45 percent of the world’s population.
* If you are earning $300 per week, in three weeks you earn more than the average Chinese person earns in a year.
* If you earn more than $20,000 per year, you are in the top 10 percent of the wealthiest people of the world.

In addition, this is from www.FeedingAmerica.org:

* In 2009, 43.6 million people (14.3 percent) were in poverty.
* In 2010, 48.8 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 32.6 million adults and 16.2 million children.

My daughter and I volunteered with a local mission to help serve a Thanksgiving meal to people in our community.  This mission was so organized and fed over 1.100 people that day.  Over 600 meals were delivered to people who could not make it to the event to pick up their meal.  The photographer in me wanted to take pictures of the crowd who showed up to receive free meals.  The smiles of children, senior adults and many others receiving a good homecooked meal but the Lord nudged me to let these people be.  To let them have their privacy…to not publicize that they were in a position of poverty or needing food.  To let them enjoy the delicious food, beautiful day and live music.