Is that a Lama??

Every year I leave the holiday season thinking that there was more we could have done as a family to really embrace the true meaning of the season.  And yet, I can never quite put my finger on what that should be other than I feel like we should spend a little less time thinking of us and a little more time thinking of others.  That's why when I saw a FB post last week from a local church asking for help serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless I jumped at the chance to participate.  Now, I have good kids who really are great about appreciating what they have.  Maybe it's because there are so many of them and they've spent a lifetime sharing pretty much everything--video games, toys, friends, clothes, etc.  Regardless, I'm grateful that they see the blessings afforded them in this life.  However, sometimes we get a little too caught up in ourselves and so I thought it would be great to start the holidays doing something for those less fortunate.

That's why at 11 am today you found us headed to a local church that was not our own.  Now, going into this adventure the kids were willing, if not a little leery.  You see, this was outside our comfort zone and if there is anything us Morgan's like it's comfort--doing what we know.  We eat the same food, go to the same restaurants, watch the same episodes of a TV show over and over.  I mean, we go to Disneyland every year and I think part of the reason is that we could get around the park with our eyes closed.  I guarantee you that if you put a blindfold around any of our kids, turned them around three times and pushed them in a direction they could get to the castle strictly by following the sounds of the Matterhorn and the smell of churros.  So feeding the homeless was going out on a limb for us.

But here's to show you that sometimes the lessons you set out to teach your kids aren't learned in the way you thought they would be.  You see, there were about 100 volunteers and a total of 12 homeless people.  Yep, 12--and I felt a little sorry for those 12 because that was an approximately 8-1 ratio as far as volunteers go which was pretty overwhelming.  I had envisioned my family talking with and interacting with those less fortunate and from that, they would step outside their comfort zone and experience something new.  Here's the thing, they did gain just that--but not in the way I thought they would.

For those of you who don't know us too well you need a bit of background.  We are LDS (Mormon) and both Dave and I were raised in the church and of course our children are as well.  We are well versed in our LDS culture and that is what our kids "know."  In fact, I don't think any of our children had been to another church ever, until today.  And let me tell you, it was WAY different than what we are used to.  For starters, there were Lamas there.  Lamas!!! And an ATM machine.  And a gift shop.  And video cameras!  Now, that's not to say that's bad, it was just WAY different than what we were used to and so we used that as a teaching opportunity.  It gave us great insight into how others who come to our church might feel for the first time.  ("Where are the lamas?  You have no lamas?")  It allowed us to recognize how grateful we are for our friends and church family that we know so well as we were strangers to this church today and that was really uncomfortable.  It caused me to reflect on how sometimes we get so used to what we have that we don't take the time to appreciate it when we don't have it.  

All of this leads back to the challenges I continue to face in getting more organized and teaching my kids self reliance.  It's so easy to do what's "comfortable" but it's by stepping outside that comfort zone that real change can happen.  And I think lamas are also involved--I'm just now sure how yet...