Soccer and souperbowl

Soon, Olivia will become soccer elite. Steve and I decided that she could sign up for soccer for the North Polk United Soccer team's spring season. After a failed attempt to sign her up for gymnastics, (her first choice), we decided that she'll also enjoy soccer. Plus, she has an unreal amount of energy built up at all times. She calls it "endergy." Endergy or energy, she's got it, so why not channel it? This makes me have cute thoughts. Cute little shin guards, and tiny cleats. Long socks, and grass stained jerseys. After my cute thoughts came realistic ones...like...I'm going to be a soccer mom?! This hurts my image. I'm not sure how, but it does. I'll have to think on this. This thought makes me feel uneasy, but I can't pinpoint the source. Huh.

Today my wish came true and I finally got to go to church. This was much to my delight. I dressed the girls in their Sunday best and did their hair accordingly. After a full princess make over, I dressed and we were off to the big house. We arrived early (gasp!) and so Steve and I conversed and decided it was ok for us to step out of our box and sit down close to the stage. We normally sit in the same section of the upper rows of the rises. I'm glad we chose to sit close because it was a whole new experience! I could see, for one. Second, I could see the people's faces and could hear a couple of thousand of worshipers sing at once. I saw our pastor's facial expressions and got to watch the band perform. We even have a new guitarist who does the real rock stance while rocking out. He has bleach blonde hair but it should be gray. It's awesome! I brought my new turquoise and latte colored Bible and even followed along. Steve will tell you that he did not appreciate our closeness to the stage as he felt that he might be picked out of the crowd by the pastor and asked a question or something. (Something they never do). Anyway, what would life be if Steve and I didn't disagree on EVERYTHING!? :)

The girls did a good job not screaming when I dropped them off at sunday school. Olivia ALWAYS wants to be in adult church instead of her classroom. I told her once she knows all the Bible stories, then she can join in the big class. Was that too harsh?

Next week, our church is doing an awesome thing for the second year in a row. Souperbowl. This is a MASSIVE food drive in which we attempt to fill all the food banks in Des Moines and in central Iowa. While I sat there in my comfy seat thinking of the can of beets I'd like to get rid of, the pastor told us not to be cheap and get rid of the weird cans of stuff we don't want to eat. But to give generously. Like what would we want to eat if we had to eat a non-perishable food item tonight? Oops. I'm scum.

So, during nap time, Olivia and I set out on an excursion to buy food for the poor and for ourselves as our shelves were barren also. We bought name brand stuff. This was painful for me because I don't even buy name brand stuff for our family. But, I thought long and hard about this and decided that if you have to visit a food bank this winter, you might as well get some relief (like NOT my can of beets that expire in a month). Olivia was very good at this task. She picked out brownies that had sprinkles because she thought the families would have fun decorating them. And her favorite cereal with the marshmallows. Boxed dinners and canned corn. Flavored rice and spaghetti. Etc. Etc. When our cart was overflowing with food for the poor and for the slightly less poor (us), I told Olivia that we couldn't get any more because we're poor too. She put her hands on her hips and said adamantly, "WE are NOT poor Mom!" I thought about this and said, "You are right pumpkin. You are totally right."

I've never visited a food bank.

Last year the church overflowed with piles and piles of food items that had to be trucked out to the various shelters and food banks. Praise God for that. And I'm super excited to see it next Sunday too. It's amazing what God's people can do when they are called to an honorable task. The pictures don't even do it justice.

Kids are smart. They see the big picture. Or they just see the picture clearer than we do. Today was a wonderful day because I got the opportunity to learn a lesson from my daughter. I have way more than I need or that I could have ever dreamt of....because of Him. Pray for our church next week that we are successful in our mission that no one go hungry this winter. And pray for me, that my heart may grow less selfish each day (even by means of a six year old's reprimand). I'll get there. :)