I am so excited to be sharing about a new journey I have recently begun. For years I have been yearning to volunteer. In this season of life, I have a lot of time on my hands. A huge blessing but it also comes with some guilt. I know it shouldn’t…I have had my years of stress and struggles. I remember the days of having little ones and feeling that each day flew by and they were growing up wayyyyyy too fast. There just wasn’t’ enough time in the day, even if I had a duplicate of myself to help get it all done. And, trust me, I miss those days. A LOT. But my babies are grown up. One is in college and thriving. The other is home but is super self-sufficient, independent, and a bookworm. If she does want to hang with either parent…it’s her daddy. Don’t blame the girl there. 😉

I prayed that God would show me something that felt right for me…and He sure did in such a beautiful way! If you aren’t familiar with KCMO Angels, allow me to introduce you! It’s a new local program (the first and only in Missouri but hopefully not for long!) that has a core mission to walk alongside children, youth, and families in the foster care community by offering consistent support through intentional giving, relationship building, and mentorship. Isn’t that great?! As soon as I heard of and dug into this program I KNEW it was for me!

I started the process a few months ago which literally was me just shooting a message to them on Instagram without even thinking: “Hey! I would love to be a volunteer! Can you let me know what is available for me to help with?” Boom. Done. Easy peasy. They wrote back, had their amazing case manager call me (Alyssa is a DREAM…so kind, patient, and just an amazing human!), got my background check done. Training done. Was matched. And, finally, got to meet a special woman this week…

I was suuuuuuuper nervous. I am home all day. I don’t go to many places. If I do, it’s with family or people I know. To meet two strangers (case manager and foster mom) at a library in a private room alone for the first time seemed a bit intense to say the least! But I walked in, saw them, we went to our room, I sat down…and the rest is a blurrrrrrr. I mean that in the best way possible! We will call foster mama “Linda” for the sake of her privacy. Linda was incredible. Her story, what she has lived through, survived, is doing now…sooooo much just heartache and joy all at once in speaking with her. Emotionally, I just wanted to cry but also clap because she is just doing some amazing things with her foster kiddo, who happens to be her teenage granddaughter. We laughed and even got misty-eyed together as we shared about our lives, families, goals, dreams…we talked about it all. I asked her questions and she asked me questions. 

When the hour was done and our case manager shared that she had to get to another meeting, I looked at Linda and we both seemed sad it was over. So I asked if she wanted to go for a ride. And so we did! Ha! She drove me to her home and showed me around and I drove her to ours and did the same. When we were leaving she said, “You must be so happy, living here.” I looked at her and said, “I was happy living in a section-8 apartment. I was happy living in a rental the size of a shoebox. I am not happy because of this home. I am happy because I have an amazing family and my health.” And that’s the truth. 

When we got back to the library for her to get back to her car, she sat there and just smiled. “You know, today was special. I am just going to have to go sit in my car and reflect on this. I have had to remove a lot of toxic people from my life and I often feel I am alone and deserve to be alone. But today you reminded me that it’s okay to let others in. And that I’m not alone. Thank you.”

You guys, I came home and cried. Cried tears of joy, tears of gratitude, and truly prayed that God will let me help this sweet woman and her granddaughter shift the cycle in their family’s history. She is determined to do it and I want to lock arms with her and help her do it as well…and I truly believe we can do that. And all because I chose to send a message on Instagram on a day that my heart was tugging at me to just do it even though it was sooo unlike me. 

I hope when you feel that tug to do something that may seem a little out of the ordinary that you do it as well. All my life I have followed that tug…and many may think I am a bit unconventional and odd for some of the things I have done in my life. But that’s ok! I have no regrets. I have never been steered wrong. And you won’t either. I am excited to keep sharing this journey with you! Thanks for following along!

*To learn more about KCMO Angels, click here!