Some Heavy Lifting Helps the Terminally Ill

It's not often that a high school sports team sacrifices practice time to serve the community that they play in. Yet that is what the McQuaid Volleyball team did this past Tuesday for the benefit of the Advent House. It is an activity that I have been participating in for the last four years.

The Advent House has an annual garage sale at the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Memorial in Faiport. A lot of items are donated, from sofas to skiis. But these donations are kept in a shed a few miles away from the site of the sale, and so we volunteered to load the goods on trucks, transport them to the VFW, and then finally unload them at the site.

What is the purpose of our service? Where are the profits from the sale going? The mission statement on http://www.theadventhouse.org/about_us.htm describes it best: "This is a story about the gracious love of God and those called to share that same unconditional love with people who have special needs at a critical time in their lives. Advent House is a home for two residents diagnosed to have less than three months to live. It serves all needs of its residents by affirming their dignity as a child of God and by providing all environments to fully live the last precious days of life. The love and support the Advent House ministry offers also embraces the family and friends of its residents and continues into the grieving process..."

Those who are terminally ill need both emotional and financial support during their stay at the Advent House, and hopefully our service will help them afford the necessities required to spend the last few days on earth in peace.

A Genuine Transformation

Some young adults are living in the depths. Problems and addictions can cause them to feel like they have lost control of their lives. But I met someone yesterday who was living proof that through personal ambition, anyone can overcome the challenges that face them.

That someone was a fellow volunteer at the Open Door Mission. Together we served dinner to the some poor men and women downtown.

It all started during a conversation about school. He told me he got kicked out of high school when he was a sophomore; after noticing the large tattoo of a marijuana leaf on his forearm, I figured that he was quite the troublemaker and pot smoker as a teenager.

But I could tell that all of that changed. He had a certain humbled aura around him. During the opening prayer service, he listened intently to the preacher; even when the volunteers got up to start preparing the food, he kept on praying until the sermon was complete. He carried a small Bible by his side. He spoke to the homeless with genuine empathy and grace. He was volunteering to fulfill his court sentence, but signed up for additional hours because he felt his service gave him true spiritual strength.

Clearly, this 20 year-old man was experiencing a transformation. He is a different man now than he was six years ago.

Unless we are planning on getting kicked out of school and thrown in jail anytime soon, most of our problems are probably not as bad as his. Put his story in perspective. We can overcome anything with self-confidence and spiritual fortitude.