The work is not yet done

Anyone who has spent any time reading anything that I have written knows that, while I am a church-going Christian, I don’t try to force my beliefs on others. I am a firm believer in living in faith, whatever that faith is for someone.

But I also am a firm believer in hard work and helping others. It’s one of the reasons that I write these blogs. I try to inspire others to find some hope, some love, some joy, and some peace; tenants that are tied to all belief systems worldwide.

After all, joy, grace, hope, peace, love and faith are all intertwined together, woven into an intricate design where it is hard to see the end of one and the beginning of another. Joy cannot exist without love. Love cannot exist unless hope abounds. Hope weaves itself into peace. None of them abide without faith, which cannot be granted without grace. But grace only resides because of love….. and you get the idea. The was they are woven together is magical.

I also try to live out that magic here in my own community. Which is why I am writing this post today.

My church is part of an association of churches in the area in which we live, called the Norwalk Area Ministerial Association, or NAMA for short. Founded many, many years ago, NAMA works to help out where the need is the greatest in the community. They do a great deal of giving those less fortunate in the area a hand up and some hope for a way out of the cycle of poverty that they are in.

The association works with as little overhead as they possibly can, running on a staff that is almost strictly volunteer to do as much as they can with what they are given. They run a food rescue that last year alone saved over 26,000 pounds of food from ending up in landfills from local stores. Their local food pantry serves about 80 families a week. In the 2022 Christmas season, the Warrior Giving Project helped about 100 local families with gifts and assistance to help them have a happy holiday (I posted a photo about it on this blog post). The back to school Shoe Love program provides shoes, socks, and underwear to children whose families struggle to make ends meet. Then there is the monthly Warrior Giving Wednesdays that help to collect essentials that SNAP benefits don’t cover, such as paper products and plastic bags, cleaning and laundry supplies, first aid provisions, and personal care items, and give them out to anyone who may need them with no questions asked. Every other month, there is a mobile pantry program that is helped by the Food Bank of Iowa to get other essentials into the hands of those who need it.

But the work is not done. Each week, more and more people come to get help at the local food pantry. Each week, others need help with basic needs many take for granted; working cars, a roof over heads, food to fill the cupboards, uniforms for their jobs, fees to go to school. They still are looking for someone to reach out their hand. They are searching for that intricate, interwoven meshwork where love, hope, faith, joy, grace, and peace collide into a beautiful kaleidoscope that has no end or beginning.

This is just some of the work that needs to be done. There is a great deal of need in the world. There is a great deal of suffering and pain and turmoil. And there are a great deal of people who tirelessly work to further joy, hope, peace, and love in the things that they do to help facilitate the needs and work of others.

So whether your work is helping to build homes in another country, working with veterans to get them the support they need, showing up at Pride events to shower them with love, extending a word of encouragement via any number of social avenues, or wherever your heart desires you to help, know that the work is not yet done. There will always be someone, somewhere who needs whatever hope, love joy, peace, faith, or grace that you are able to extend. And sometimes, you will be the only one able to do whatever unique work you can do.

The work is not done. It continues, just as the stories we each write continue. Find the magic you need to help get it done. Further the story of the work, just as you write your own story.

Stay magical.

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And as always, #writeyourownstory