Belle's First CAFE Experience

Yesterday evening Belle and I went to CAFE (Christians Activated to Feed) at our church. It's been a long time since I've volunteered at that ministry (think over a decade ago), and it was really good for me to get involved again. I felt so uplifted being able to help others, and I left with a renewed vision of how truly blessed I am. The most positive part of our experience was Belle's reaction to the ministry. She was such an enthuastic helper -- she was in charge of making sure I had glasses to fill with drinks, assisting elderly or handicap persons with carrying their meal and/or drinks back to their seat, and helping with clean-up after the meal was served and the guests were gone. She approached all of her jobs very dutifully and really warmed the hearts of many of the guests with her cheerful attitude and beautiful smile!

As we walked out of the church hand-in-hand, I had no idea how strong of an impact the experience had on her. It wasn't until we reached our car and I was about to pull out that I heard her crying... I turned around and she was sobbing, with her head buried in her hands. She had so much compassion for the people we had just served, that she wasn't able to process it all without tears, and the size of her heart brought me to tears as well. Among the guests was a little girl just about Belle's age, and it was Belle's interaction with this particular person that affected her greatest. We talked about how blessed we are to have a home with beds for all of us, food always on the shelves and in the fridge, and money to pay all our bills. Belle was trying to understand why some people are blessed to this extent, while others, like this little girl, are not so fortunate. It was a challenging concept for my little six year old to wrap her mind around, and her actions and words reminded me yet again how proud I am of the person she is becoming.

Dave and I both agree that we want to make volunteering at CAFE a regular part of our lives in the future. Unfortunately our Thursday nights are booked up for the rest of summer, but I'm going to make a point to avoid scheduling activities on Thursdays once fall hits so that we can attend CAFE at least once a month. As with all volunteer opportunities I've experienced, I'm positive that Belle and I got more out of the experience than the people we were serving.