It’s finally summertime...yes! That means the kids don’t have to go to bed early and can sleep in, I won’t have to bug them anymore to get all their assignments done all the time (as if they were really doing them all), and they can spend a bunch of time outside (that is, when they are not glued to their video games)....
I realize you can sense the sarcasm buried within my comments, but those are real things many of us moms deal with and complain about, and rightfully so. I am one of them! It is quite a confusing time for sure and I have to take it day by day to get by and feel like I am doing my job as a mom (along with my many other “hats”). For someone that wants to make the best of every day but also really lives in structure, I am struggling quite a bit and trying to create my own wherever I can but I also believe there is light at the end of the tunnel and there are some blessings we can experience amidst this interesting journey we are encountering.
All that said, I really don’t have much to complain about. I have a husband to help me (and know what it is like to not have that) and two handsome, talented, healthy boys. We have jobs with more than enough work to keep us busy, and support our family. We have a place to live and food on our table; and not just any food for the purpose of nourishment, but a variety of enjoyable food, hot meals, snacks and lots of other stuff that we really don’t need. You know, the stuff we take for granted every day.
I have recently realized how incredibly fortunate I am as I have been serving more frequently for our local food banks, and have seen that the demand there has risen so much over the last few months. I know that some of those that are going there had a life very similar to mine not too long ago. They lost their jobs, or their businesses have suffered, or they have had some other problem leading to them needing support to feed their families.
Have you ever missed a meal? I honestly don’t think I ever have. My family struggled growing up, but we always had food to eat. I can’t imagine how that must feel physically, and even more so emotionally, especially with kids to feed. I reflected on this as I watched over 200 cars line up at the food bank distribution one Saturday morning, and have seen the lines on Friday nights expand continually, with some waiting for hours to get a few bags of groceries to feed their families. I can’t begin to wonder how painful that must be, for myself, and even more so for my children and family. What if I was faced with that situation? It could certainly be a reality.
While my kids have been looking forward to the summer with fun trips on the weekend, and families are enjoying cookouts today to celebrate the 4th, there are other kids dreading it, and that are waiting for school to come back as that may be the one secure meal of the day that they have. I just feel the need to pause and acknowledge this, as this problem is as close as right next door, and we may not realize it.
But... we can help! The food banks need all of us to put a dent in this problem. It may appear that they have plenty of donations and volunteers, but they frequently run out, and can always use more help. It can be as simple as dropping off a few canned goods or better yet, donating a few dollars. The money goes much farther than the donated food as the food banks can usually get it themselves at a much more discounted rate. And, your time is precious, but even an hour once every couple of months will make a big difference. It doesn’t require a large time investment. Here is a link to some of the needs for our local food bank here in Chester: https://www.chesterfieldfoodbank.org/volunteer/
It is hard to know when things will get back to “normal”, but it will pass eventually and we can reflect back on this time with gratitude for getting through it.
May your summer be filled with blessings!
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