On Wednesday night, I volunteered at my church’s dinner for the homeless. It was really heartwarming to hear that they had TOO MANY volunteers! We helped feed 1000 people, and on top of that, we sent food to several agencies in the area who give food to the homeless and low-income families. It really impressed me how many people in our church community take so much of their personal time to organize a huge event like this. It was a wonderful experience, and I met some new people in my community who are really great people.
On Thanksgiving night, I decided to go see “Precious”. If you know anything about the movie, then this may have seemed like an odd time to go see it… it’s a pretty heavy movie, and not exactly a “happy” movie at that. But I’ve been trying to see it for weeks and this was the first chunk of free time I had (plus I knew I’d have the theatre almost to myself!). I didn’t bother to ask anyone to go see it with me for the reason I said above… most people wouldn’t want to see it on Thanksgiving. But anyway… all I can say is “wow.” As I said, the movie was really heavy, but it was absolutely incredible. I can tell you honestly that this is one of the first movies I’ve seen in a long time that really got to me on such a deep level. If I cry in movies, it’s usually just a tear here or there. But there were parts of the movie that I found myself wanting to absolutely sob. Precious’ life took having a “rough life” to a whole new level. I guess why it hit me so hard is that I know there are people out there who have HAD her life, or some of the worst parts of it. But even through it all, at the end, Precious doesn’t allow the past to dictate her future. I seem to be hearing this a lot lately, whether it’s in books I’ve read, on talk shows, in my psych class, or in movies: live in the NOW.
Speaking of “Now”, that was the name of a song my choir sang at church yesterday. ”Now is the moment, now is the time.” It’s a gospel song, so you know Leah was loving that!! While at church, the priest who was presiding over mass, Father Tim, said that a man came up to him after the church Thanksgiving dinner and said, “thank you, this is the first time I’ve felt full in a really long time.” That hit me like parts of “Precious” — it made me not just want to shed a tear, it made me want to sob. We… I… really take so much for granted. I’m so thankful for this weekend, and for my life.
So now we enter the Christmas season, which is my faaaaavorite season. It’s not quite the same for me in California though… there is NOTHING like Christmas in New England. But I am looking forward to the week I will get to spend at home.
Right now I need to go prepare for a loooooong day of teaching. Not complaining though — getting paid to do something you love is truly a blessing.
