Today is Tuesday and I took a short break from painting. Every Tuesday I pick up bakery donations from my local King Soopers and deliver them to Christ's Body homeless shelter in Denver. Besides the bread, I picked up pumpkin, carrot, and angel food cakes, lots of cookies, and a whole bunch of caramel apples.
The back story is that it wasn't always that simple. When I first started six months ago, I got minimal & poor instructions and did everything wrong. The warehouse foreman was twice my size, scowled a lot, and was fairly intimidating especially when he yelled at me. So for a couple of months, I pretty much dreaded the whole experience.
Today I must say that we've come a long way. The foreman (who shall be nameless) and I have nice conversations. He offers to help. But I try NOT to be a pest. He is pleasant and courteous and even jokes and smiles now. Today he thanked me and said, "Have a nice rest of the day!" WOW! AND the piece de resistance was that when I unloaded my delivery at Christ's Body, the lady who was doing the cooking came running out to hug me. She only had 2 little cakes for dessert and my delivery was a timely answer to her prayer.
So what has this to do with anything, you ask? In the art world or with life in general, the road is often bumpy at first. Giving the situation some time, being patient, and toughing it out are often necessary components of success. And this is just a little nudge to remind you that "This too shall pass."
For more information about CHRIST'S BODY MINISTRY or what you can do to support or volunteer, check out:
http://www.christsbody.org/
