family promise

You know how when you get married you rake in a bunch of cash from people who came to your reception?  On our wedding night, we sat and ate pizza on the bed in our suite and opened all our cards.  We were PUMPED at the generosity of all our parents' friends--let's be honest, our friends gave us fun stuff... nothing productive.  The next morning, we ate breakfast and went to the Gateway mall in Salt Lake City to shop around and see a movie--killing time before our flight to Hawaii.  Dewy manned the cash because, well... I'm not trustworthy in a mall with cash.  It was quickly evident that he wasn't trustworthy either, but for different reasons.

Dewy is so full of goodness.  He always has been.  As we walked through the mall, we came upon a lot of people begging for money.  Dewy physically cannot walk by those people without giving them something, and while I'd give them a smile or a wave and call it enough, Dewy started forking over our wedding money.  I didn't know whether to love him more or beat him up. 

Last night I went to a training in order to become qualified to volunteer in a local service effort called Family Promise of Ogden.  This is a program that assists vetted families for assistance at multiple things including employment, housing, day care, etc.  The idea is that Family Promise takes care of shelter, food, transportation, etc. while these people become self sustaining and get on their feet.  They follow a strict qualification process to be in the program, and are expected to adhere to the rules.  Most of these people are single moms with children, and this training now enables me to cook a meal in my home, take it to the Family Promise of Ogden center, feed them, and then hang out with them through the evening.  Now before you start being impressed, you should know that my reasoning for helping is completely selfish.  I'm tired of my kids being whiny and entitled, and this seemed like a great way for them to figure out how easy their lives are.  When I go serve, my family can come with me, and if I'm lucky I might convince those who sleep there to keep my kids too.  I should stop joking about that on here... you guys are going to start thinking I'm serious.

I'm usually very content with staying in my own world, keeping things going here, and not worrying about going out of my way to serve.  It's not something I'm proud of.  I remember being small and riding in the car with my Grandma Myrtle.  I remember it was raining outside, and I made the comment that whenever it rained I wondered how the people without houses stayed dry and warm.  It was an honest statement, but my grandma pointed out to me that it was a thought a lot of people didn't have.  Or what's worse, a thought people had but didn't do anything about.  Now I'm an adult, and I'm worried I've turned in to one of those people.  But every once in a while a cause all but slaps me in the face, and I feel a pull to join the ranks.  That is what happened with Family Promise of Ogden, and I am so excited.  I'm excited to involve my kids.  I'm excited to meet the families.  I'm excited for people to tell me how good my cooking is and not plug their nose or fake throw up.