From 12 to 40 ~ in Just One Week!!!

Every Sunday morning, I get up, work for a few hours and then head to Catalina Vista wondering what will be in store. This past Sunday I think you may have gotten a glimpse of me smiling ear to ear as I collected food donations and chatted up some neighbors. It renews my sense of community, belonging, cohesiveness in a neighborhood and all the while doing something good.

As the title says, we went from 12 lbs. the first week to 40 lbs this week! The weigh-in is an exciting part of the calculations too because its a measure. This week I snagged two of my kids from school and brought them to the Community Food Bank for the weigh-in. Its a bit different than weighing in at a 'weight loss' place. Here, we want to be big and fat in our numbers! :)

These are my two children from Ethiopia. I traveled over two years ago to pick them up in a place that will always be so dear to my heart. But the devastation there is beyond shocking. Its criminal. Someday I hope to take them back so they can see where they came from; what they survived.

A flash of a naked man, laying in the sidewalk still haunts me. He didn't have any clothes, and I didn't have any words. I wanted so badly to yell to the driver, "STOP! STOP NOW! WE MUST GIVE HIM FOOD AND CLOTHING!" But the words never came out. I opened my mouth and only a floodgate of tears came pouring out ~ in a country where it isn't culturally 'okay' to cry. I knew there was only one thing to do; hold my breath. I did, and I quietly stopped. But I knew that I would never be the same again. His image still continues to haunt me. I didn't do anything. I don't want to feel that again. I have to do SOMETHING.

I don't tell people about the man, mostly because I am ashamed. I missed the opportunity to do something. Maybe it was the way it was supposed to be, because I still carry the weight of him with me as a reminder to DO. I won't let the world pass me by. I'm a mover... and I know that only the unimaginable is impossible. If you can dream it, you can do it.

Let's do it together.

See you Next Sunday my awesome fabulous wonderful neighbors!!!

Lisa