#19: 500K Meal Marathon

Our church recently participated in the 500K Meal Marathon, a project to package 500,000 rice-based meals to send to Haiti. My daughter, Maya, and I were excited to put on gloves and hairnets and donate our time to help.

The event was incredibly well-organized with scheduled shifts, stations and teams each working specific areas of an assembly line. Volunteers measured dehydrated vegetables, vitamin powder, soy protein and rice into plastic bags and sealed. During our two-hour shift, Maya and I each had responsibility for heat sealing bags in our group and placing them on grids to be packaged. It was a pretty easy job, but so cool to know we contributed to helping feed hungry families around the world.

I heard there were over 1,000 volunteers who participated in the event and it was awesome to be part of that and experience the energy of the day. It was especially meaningful to experience it with Maya. It provided a great opportunity to remind both of us how fortunate we are to have the resources we often take for granted and how important it is to help others. We pray the generosity of volunteers will not only feed hungry stomachs, but also open the door to share God’s love throughout the world.

> See local news coverage about the 500K Meal Marathon

#18: Knitting Class

When I first decided to embark on the 40x40 project I made a list of things I wanted to try. Some of my top picks included starting a blog, parasailing, eating sushi, flying somewhere for lunch and knitting.

I mean, how cool would it be to know how to knit? I could make handmade Christmas gifts…hats, scarves, gloves, maybe even a cool dog sweater.

Me & Maya

So,I recently signed up for a beginner’s knitting class at Jenning Street Yarns in Fort Worth with my 11 year old daughter, Maya. My husband had taken our youngest daughter on a “Dads and Dolls” camping trip, so Maya and I had an entire weekend to spend together. She’s very artsy and a bit of a fashionista, so it was easy to talk her into the two hour knitting class. She was a great sport – even after we entered the class and she realized she was learing to knit with a group of 39-70 year old women.

The class had five students, including us, and we began with introductions. I briefly explained my 40x40 project and that learning to knit was on my “list.” One lady had recently quit smoking and thought knitting would be a distraction and give her something to do with her hands. She hoped to learn enough to knit caps for babies at a local hoapital. Another lady had recently left her job and was exploring hobbies to keep her busy. Her friend, also in the class, had crocheting experience but had never knitted. When they got around to Maya, she politely smiled and said “I’m here with my mom.”

Maya Knitting

And I’m so glad she was. It turns out she’s MUCH better at knitting than I could ever be. I had high hopes that I would leave the class with at least enough competence to knit a simple scarf, but that was far from the case.

Linda, our teacher and the shop owner, was great and very patient. She told interesting stories about the history of knitting while showing us the basics and then went around to each student to help us get started. I admit that I struggled to get the basic concept. The goal was to finish a row with 10 stitches. Mine always had 12…or 11…or 9…but never 10. Linda called some of the shop workers over to help the class, and one lady in particular tried to help me. She apparently found my lack of talent exasperating since she snapped at me several times and decided to take over my test piece so it would have some hope.  I’m sure she meant well, but her unpleasant tone pretty much killed my desire to knit.

This was my first 40x40 adventure that didn’t quite live up to my hopes. I left more discouraged than inspired, but I suppose it's unrealistic to expect all 40 experiences to be fabulous. Afterall, this project is about trying new things and enriching my life. Knitting might not be for me, but at least I gave it a shot.

Future Scarf

Maya, on the other hand, charmed the teacher, classmates and the helpers. They were impressed by how quickly she picked up on things and her overall politeness and personality. I must admit, she is pretty spectacular. In fact, I’ll be relying on her to tell me what to do with the knitting needles and yarn that we brought home. I have a feeling her scarf will be finished long before mine ever begins…

Experience #18 could have been better, but at least I tried….22 to go!