Life Lessons from Moveable Feast

In life things usually never go as planned and my experience with Moveable Feast was no exception. When I signed up for this service learning project I was under the impression that I would be able to work in the kitchen. I would follow a simple recipe or maybe just stuff some containers with mashed potatoes for a couple hours then be on my way. This case would allow me to volunteer during a time that worked best for me. This however was far from the reality. 

My team and I ended up being needed as drivers, meaning we had to drive around parts of Lexington that I have never been to and deliver the meals to 26 homes per day. If I am being honest, I was not exactly happy about this assigned job. This job was going to require me to get out of my comfort zone and do something that wasn't convenient for me.

Upon arriving at Moveable Feast for our first solo run Shelley, Rebecca, and I were not too thrilled about our luck with the weather. In the words of Karen Smith, it was about 68 degrees (more like 58) and there was a 30% chance that it was already raining. (At least the rain coat and boots, with the help of some leaves, made for an artsy fall picture.) Despite this fact we loaded up the car and headed out.

Rebecca working hard in the back seat to make sure all the
meals were ready to go when we arrived at the next house.

The previously mentioned "artsy picture"

 Arriving at the first house, Shelley put the car in park and Rebecca handed me the meal neatly tied up in a grocery bag. Walking up to a strangers door is always a little awkward. Maybe it's just me but I never know how loud to knock. I want to knock loud enough to where they hear me, but I don't want it to be a rude knock. Anyway that's beside the point. I apparently found the perfect knock because the woman who came to the door was smiling ear to ear. I handed her the food and started to turn around and leave. What happened next caught me a little off guard. She set the food down and then turned back around to me and asked me how I was doing. Here is this woman who can't afford to put food on her table and yet, she is worried about how I am doing. The selflessness of that woman is something that I will not soon forget. 

Now I can't speak for the rest of the team but, I was not in the right state of mind to be serving that evening. It was a Friday night and I was only thinking that I couldn't wait to get my weekend started. However, after this encounter my goal shifted from how fast can we get this done to how can I make the day of these people even brighter. Later one of the other volunteers informed me that sometimes we are the only people that the recipients of the food see all day. This fact broke my heart and only fueled my desire to make an impact on these people's lives that includes more than filling their stomach. 

After arriving back at home sweet Woodland Glen 5 it dawned on me that this mission of striving to brighten other people's days applies to more than just random strangers. I should try to do this everyday with anyone that I encounter. I hope that as I continue on this journey with Moveable Feast my desire to be this joy only grows.