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Feeding the homeless for Thanksgiving
It’s four o’clock in the morning. My cell phone starts singing “Meant to Live” and I open my eyes groggily. I wonder, “What the heck am I doing up so early?“ and then I remember that I’m going to feed the homeless and low-income people today. I get dressed (I accidentally put on my shirt backwards), and went to wake up my mom (who greets me with a horrible glare).
Fast forward thirty minutes and I’m inside of the church dining hall, preparing for the hordes of homeless. I carefully set up each table and make sure that everyone has a mug and two cups—one 
for juice, the other for milk. My friends start to come into the church as well, all wanting to help their community. After each table has been set up, my friend and I go to put cookies into little baggies for the people to take on their way out. Next to the door, a lady sits behind a desk, offering help fliers to the homeless and also showing them a list of job openings.
Even at five in the morning, all my friends and I are still upbeat and active (mainly because of the Starbucks coffee I had). On the bright side, we didn’t have to wear hairnets like I thought we were going to have to do. Finally, everything was in place, and all we had to do was wait for the people to come filing in. A few minutes past seven, the people started trickling in, one by one. All 
of the volunteers rushed towards the man, offering him oatmeal, butter or strawberry jam on his toast, and eggs. Then, more people started to come in. Soon, the whole hall was packed and all of us were running back and forth in order to serve all of them. Our goal was to make the experience as personal as possible, so we all conversed with the people, trying to make them feel welcome. Unlike most homeless shelters, we didn’t have a buffet; we asked them what they wanted to eat, and went to go fetch it for them. To me, this helps maintain their dignity as it’s more like how an actual restaurant functions.
Three hours later; I’m tired and sick of doing this. I lose my smile and my eyelids start to droop from sleep-deprivation. Just about as I’m going to leave early and go home, a lady asks me if she can have more oatmeal. She tells me how much she appreciates my being there and then nothing else seems to matter. In some minuscule way, I’m helping my community, and people actually appreciate it.
Okay, now I’m rambling. The main point of this blog is to remind everyone that we should all give back to our communities for Thanksgiving. There are so many people on the streets, in the cold this Thanksgiving, and the least we can do is to provide them with a warm meal. When people ask me, “Why would you wake up so early to feed the homeless?“ I just give them a blank stare because it’s something that you should do, no matter what time you have to wake up. Everybody needs compassion in their lives and if you’re at home with your family, all huddled around a fireplace and munching on turkey limbs, think of all the people who don’t get that opportunity.
So, this Thanksgiving break, I encourage you all to find a homeless shelter or soup kitchen and volunteer there—it’s the least we can do. 
An Atheist at a Church Retreat?
One of my friends recently invited me to go with him on a church retreat… and I said yes. My friend’s mom agreed to pay for my trip, and I never turn down offers like that (heh).
At first, I was a little narrow-minded about the whole situation and adamant about not being evangelized, but then I realized that I should make the most of this church retreat and just see where it takes me. I’ll admit, I am a little worried about how I’ll react to the sermons, the praise songs, and the general atmosphere of the retreat, but I’ll take it one step at a time. Going to a church retreat, I’ll have to watch what I say or else I might accidentally offend someone (which I have been known to do at times).
On the other hand, I’m going to die at this retreat. I’ve just realized how attached that I am to my electronic devices; I’ve forgotten what it’s like to walk around without the feeling of an iPod in my pocket! Apparently, on a retreat, one is not supposed to bring any MP3 players, iPods, cell phones, etcetera (that makes sense because it is, after all… a retreat). I suppose that without all the technology, a person could think clearer and make better decisions, but… it’s just going to take some getting used to. Technically I’m only going to be gone for three days, so I’m not going to shrivel up and die… hopefully.
Another one of my friends told me that during his retreat, his cabin was littered with bugs. I’m known to overreact at the sight of bugs, but one can never know what diseases those little insects may have in their saliva. I mean… lime disease, malaria, yellow fever, etcetera. I’m contemplating on bringing bug spray and borrowing a lighter to create a flamethrower. *insert psychotic laughter* Nothing like fried bug in the morning. Yum.
What worries me the most is the bus ride there. I’m known for getting a little nauseated on long car trips.
So, have you gone to a church retreat? If so, what was it like?
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