Getting Out

Sunday was one of those days when I managed to get myself, my son, and a posse of parents and kids out of the church and into the community. It makes me nervous, because it's never as simple as you think it's going to be. This was set to be super simple- we were going to make up bags of helpful things for the families at the Opportunity Center. 18 bags, one for every family. We planned to do it this Sunday because it's a holiday weekend, and we always have smaller attendance, hence a more manageable crew to take on adventure. The thing about holidays, though, is that people don't like to commit to be anywhere. My program coordinator (M) and I were nervous that we didn't have a lot of advance commitments, but trusted that this would be great like all the previous special events, where people turn up at church even on a holiday, and want to be part of the fun.

By coincidence, we had just received a donation of FABULOUS papers and stamps from a crafter who had recently moved out of state, so we started the morning by making cards and notes for each family. The older kids were sorting out our donations into piles of like objects to create an assembly line for the bags. I had our math whizzes dividing our total sponges by number of bags, and adults bustled around seeing how we could make every bag come out even. A couple rushed off to the store to buy "everything else." ("Really?" I thought "That seems like a pretty big donation" but they really meant it! People can be so generous.)

As usual, some of the children were totally absorbed with the drawing and writing, and others were done in a few minutes and ready to run circles. I called them all together to read a story called "Tight Times " by Barbara Shook Hazen. The illustrations are beautiful drawings, very expressive, and the story always feels very real; what it's like for a family when times are tight, and how on earth you explain that to your 5 year old. The kids were so quiet and attentive while they listened, it really gives the impression they took it in. (I can only hope that was more than my projection.)

But still the shoppers were out shopping, and the running-in-circle kids were back to running in circles. We were due to leave for the Center, but we still needed "everything else." It is moments like these when I wish someone more patient and less anxious than myself was in charge.

But when "everything else" came, the children and youth lined up and filled their bags, the adults made sure the bags all came out right, (M)handed me a big pile of field trip forms and a list of who-goes-in-what car, and after I convinced my son's playmate to join us, so that my son would be willing to leave his water games on the playground, we headed off. Almost every parent of every child wanted to come, and each transported a few of the bags. By some miracle I was the first car to arrive, and there was our Case Manager (K) who was sweet and gracious, (and patient with our lateness) and took over being in charge. I had been to the Opportunity Center once before, but none of my posse had seen it for themselves. It is such an amazing space, with such care in aesthetics as I have hardly seen in a place designed to serve families experiencing "tight times." My son was devastated when I told him it was time to go. He just wanted to stay on his rock in the sunshine, out in the front open-space of the center.

I am leaving this church in June, leaving this region, and that means leaving behind places like the Opportunity Center. I just thought if these great parents and children could get to see it, they would want to stay connected.