Cheers to Ten Years

Cheers to ten years.

It was the Friday before Thanksgiving ten years ago when my boys and I were driving around delivering meals. First we went to an apartment building and had an awkward encounter with the “dad” of one of the kids we served at Laura Bush Middle School through Pirate Pantry.

The dad was in denial.
I’ll just leave it at that.

After another uncomfortable drop off, I pulled up the last house and told my boys to stay in the car. I’d be quick and just make this delivery myself. We were only a few blocks from our cozy home. I had already decorated for Christmas. The refrigerator was full of their favorite foods and the pantry was well stocked with snacks and everything they’d enjoy when their friends came over to hang out over the long break. Family was coming in from all over.

So I opened the gate on my giant SUV and pulled two boxes out. They had a small ham and some sides, a frozen dessert.

Roxy opened the door and I immediately heard the smoke alarm going off indicating they were out of batteries. She didn’t even hear it. The house was dark and cold. So cold. She opened the pantry and it was empty. The refrigerator too. Most of you know how this story ended up. I was there for hours. We talked about her life and I got a list of what she needed. After sharing on Facebook, she had a house full of cozy beds, her electricity turned back on, warm blankets, tons of gifts under her tree, a stocked pantry, refrigerator, freezer and a brand new deep freeze full of food.

So yay. Right?
A super special holiday story about how the community rallied around a single grandmother raising two boys.

Sure.
But I wasn’t satisfied.
Because I knew there were so many more kids living in homes like that just blocks away from my family. My family that had more than enough. Closets overflowing with clothes. More blankets than we knew what to do with.

I knew storage was one of the biggest industries in our country because those of us that have “enough” - have way too much. And when given an opportunity to share, most people say yes. It just makes sense.

I believe we were made to be generous.
Not hoarders.

So that’s when FOUND was born.

We’ll celebrate our 501c3 five year anniversary in March. Just a few months away.

I was sitting in line at the bank the other day, waiting on the teller for what felt like 40 years. It always takes FOREVER at my bank. I try to have grace because they’re super sweet. It’s just that I’m not there to talk about how my day is going. I just need to make a deposit and get back on the road. They’re never in a hurry. I realize they’ve never had to be.

When I was in college I worked at Bank of America. Starting out in Austin, I’d open the window and we’d have 30 cars waiting in the drive through. I loved it.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars would go through my hands in a few hours.
Speed was almost as important as accuracy.

When I transferred to San Angelo in 2001, we’d open and we’d have three tellers and one car. YAWN.

I quit eventually.

Anyway - what I realized sitting in the drive thru the other day in Lubbock is that those tellers have never had to be speedy. Not to the degree that I experienced in Austin.

So it wasn’t a priority.
They don’t know what they don’t know.
I get it.

I think for so many of us, it’s easy to just believe that there aren’t kids in our communities living in cold dark houses with no food. Sleeping on floors with no blankets. It’s happening on a large scale. And when people wake up to it, they rise up and do something about it.

Once you know, you know.

From what I know about how Jesus did His thing … ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is a life that settles for what we can get, not what we can give.

Ten years later, we get to give through FOUND on a grand scale because of the way the community has risen to the occasion. So I’m not done beating this drum. I finally found my place in the band and I won’t be quiet. There’s too much at stake. Not just for the recipient. For those who lean in and listen and hear the stories and respond with generosity. It’s so incredibly rewarding.

Almost like He designed it that way.