Hello, my name is Corey, just in case you did not get a chance to read my intro blog. I am currently The 2014-15 Project SERVE volunteer for Our Daily Bread. I love adventure, but I have not really gone anywhere of great distance from my home. I do not travel and so this was my first time in Baltimore. It was actually my first time on a plane.
Corey
So I have dubbed my year of service “The Year of Firsts”. I have decided that I am going to be open to new things and let God run my life from now on. It has been exciting to let go and go with the flow. God has a plan for me and so far after only a month, it has been the best time of my life. I love the city. I grew up in Lansing, Michigan, but more on the outskirts so moving from the suburbs to downtown Baltimore was different, but very exciting. I have loved living with six other random strangers for the month. They are amazing and they are hilarious. I can honestly say that it feels I am back home with my four other siblings and parents. This is my home and I would have it no other way.
I have loved working at Our Daily Bread for the past five weeks. This has been the first time I have been in a soup kitchen as a volunteer or even worked at one. And right away I am the Volunteer Coordinator. I am in charge of countless volunteers most of whom have been there for over ten years. Some would say that “I was thrown into the deep end” or that “I hit the ground running”, but with the love and support of the staff here at ODB, I feel as if I have seamlessly maneuvered into just another staff member. The only difference is, I don’t get paid.
But as I sit here in my office thinking of cool ways to write boring occurrences of my life here at Baltimore, I look up and see a quote on the wall from Pope Francis. It embodies everything that I think this year of service should be and it is a motto that I want to live my life by. It is also a very simple thing to do but it has made me think if I have been doing it for a long time or probably more accurately not been doing anything at all. These simple words by a humble man who loves everyone no matter who they are said this:
“May the life of the poor not leave us indifferent
May the suffering of the sick and those in need not find us distracted
May the loneliness of the elderly and fragility of children move us
May every human life be always loved and venerated by all us all.”
Can you do the same?
His Humble Servant,
-Corey