I ♥ Central Oregon

This year the Heart Campaign decided to rally all the volunteers they could get and go out to love on our communities all in one day. So on Saturday, September 25, more than 2,500 volunteers from over 100 different churches and community organizations joined together to serve in 15 different local communities!

We decided to help set up the expo center this year. So Jason & I and all three boys headed out to Redmond to set up chairs with all the other volunteers. We only made it about five minutes before Lucas decided that sitting in his stroller just wasn't "involved" enough for him, so Jason put him in the snuggly and he got to be in on all the action. We set up and dusted chairs, measured rows and isles, met some great new people, and visiting with some familiar ones.

The Expo Center set up before the event.(Photo courtesy of IHCO)

And this was the result:(Photo courtesy of IHCO)

Over 8,000 people attended to see the band Elliot perform and a special appearance by Nick Vujicic, who also set a Guinness Book world record with a total of 1, 749 hugs in 60 minutes, which I got to be part of too!

His story is amazing and so is he! I've never been so inspired by another person in my entire life! To learn more about his miraculous story or the amazing work that he does, which will just bring you to tears, visit his website at http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/

Sign up!!

Time to sign up again! Come join the fun! This year we're loving on all of Central Oregon in one day. So mark your calendars...September 25th!! Come out with us and love on our beautiful cities! There are so many fun volunteer projects to sign up for! (Click the link below to get started!!)

http://iheartbend.org/index.php?id=008

And don't forget to stop by one of the local spots (click the link below to find tickets in your area) and grab your tickets for the Elliot Concert, with a special visit from Nick Vujicic!! It's going to be a great time!!

http://iheartbend.org/index.php?id=031

Yesterday

What a busy day, for a Thursday anyway. Usually our busiest days are in the beginning of the week and then the weekend. But Jason had worked so late on Wednesday that the boys only got to see him for about 30 minutes before they had to go to bed so I promised them we'd go to watch Seb's friend play baseball after school on Thursday.

My car was in the shop so we were running errands in Jason's dad's truck and then finally got a chance to pick up my car after Seb got out of school. We dropped off the truck, hopped in the car and drove across town for a few innings of Seb's friend's game before it got too cold to stay out.

After finishing errands and grabbing some dinner to go we headed home, passing by this woman sitting on the sidewalk behind the grocery store. I noticed her hair, wrapped up like I've seen so many other ladies do...I've always liked that look. She was holding a sign and as we drove by I looked over to see what it said but we drove by too fast and I couldn't see the whole thing. The only thing I could see what the words "Praying for..." and instantly I felt something inside. I told Jason "We need to go back! Maybe we should give her our food."

Now although Jason is an amazing man of God he is still afraid to trust in the area of finances, which is pretty common for a lot of people. We don't have loads of money but when it comes to trusting God with providing for us I'm "insanely" confident that everything will be okay. So I managed to convince Jason to turn around, using my kids as the bait...If we don't live our lives as an example how can we expect them to?

So we turned around and gave her the only thing I had in my wallet, the last of my cash. It felt great! Sebastian said that he hoped she'd go into the store and buy something for herself to eat and I just love that he thought that for her. At dinner we prayed for her and everyone else going through this hard economy. It really is so humbling to look around at all the people, even just in our community, and how much they're struggling right now and to feel like even though things are tough for us we're just so blessed with what we do have. And everyday we get to decide if we'll make the choice to live as an example.

Her sign read "Praying for a Miracle".

Donations!

So today I heard someone at my door, messing with the door knob. I walked over and pulled the door open to see a young woman walking away and when I asked "What's this?" She turned with a smile and told me all about how some local businesses teamed up to collect donations from people in the area for the Central Oregon Food Bank!

Within 10 minutes the boys and I had that big ol' paper bag completely loaded! It was fun...Almost like a scavenger hunt! Looking in our cabinets almost made me feel a little guilty...We have so much and others are struggling to survive right now. So we took almost half of everything, from jello to pasta to stove top and canned goods, and put it in the bag.

Tomorrow we get to set it at our front door and they'll come back and take it for us. I hope the boys will keep a look out for them to come get the bag...It's really important to us that they see they are making a difference, in a big way or a small one, with things we take for granted everyday!

Happy Earth Day!

We have been talking about Earth Day in our house this week and the boys & I made a little list of some ways that we try to save energy and help our planet. It's a fun way to teach your kids responsibility and helping save the planet. They're learning about being green in school and from some of their favorite tv shows, magazines, and books but it's fun to see how we're changing things in our own home.

So here's our list of how we help keep our Earth a little green:

• Turn off water when we're not using it


• Unplug electronics & appliances we're not using


• Taking more walks and fewer trips in the car


• Using energy saver light bulbs


• Reusing & recycling


• Cleaning up garbage in our neighborhood


• Opening the blinds and turning off the lights

I hope you guys are all coming up with awesome ideas on your lists and learning fun new ways to help our planet. And we'd love to hear some of your ideas too!

Resolutions, maybe?

Already 14 days into the year and we have yet to set resolutions for ourselves. I think people in general set goals that, at the beginning of the year, they honestly think they can meet. But somewhere along the way we forget about our new "promises" to ourselves, or others, and get right back into our old routine. I've never really been one to participate in the new year's resolution challenge because I've always thought I'd be setting myself up for failure.

I have a paper taped to the wall above my desk. At the top I have written "My List" and below that are a handful of goals that I have set for myself. Everyday when I sit down at my desk and take a look at the paper but I rarely stop to really read each entry on the list and consider it, or form a basic plan as to how I'm going to accomplish any of these challenges.

So this year, I think I'm going to make "the list" my resolution for the new year. Everyday I will (or will try to) look at the list and really think about each goal on it. And I will consider whether or not I'm working toward meeting those goals, day by day.

My main goal for 2010? I guess, that would be just to improve myself. I don't want to look back at the end of this year and be the exact same person I was in 2009. I want to be a warrior for God and feel his power & glory. I want to share it with the world and bring others to know Him. I want to make a difference in the world.

There are a couple of people in my life who are very important to me, but they are always saying things like "You can't save everyone" and "You can't change the world"...And honestly, they're right. I can't change the world by myself but if I have an "army" of God's warriors with me then we can change things. We can teach our children to become warriors too...If we just keep teaching each generation to love God & love each other and be modern-day Joseph's and Mary's then we can, eventually, change this world. I know that's a challenge we can all meet...We just have to want to!