Is It Tuesday?

Seriously?  Is it Tuesday already?  It's like I took a nap on Saturday and woke up to Tuesday.  From our wonderful Chicago family visiting, to Tulsa Homeless Outreach,  to getting a cast off, to getting a sinus infection under control, I can see why Tuesday snuck up on me. 

It's not totally a bad thing.  Being busy with the right thing has it's perks.  Spending time with family.  Perk.  Serving the homeless. Perk.  Getting a cast off. Perk.  Sinus infection.  Uh...non perk.

I'll spare you from the play by play of the family weekend, but let's just say 7 kids ages 8, 7, 5, 5, and THREE 2 year olds makes for a lot of crazy fun!  Go ahead.  Let your imagination run wild with that one.  If you can think of it, it probably happened within our two days together.

As for the Tulsa Homeless Outreach.  AH-MAY-ZING!!!  So many volunteers showed up this time.  People making unlimited snow cones, people playing music, multiple cars serving up sack lunches, crates and crates of water being distributed (so much so that I came home with one leftover for next month), and toiletries.  It was heartwarming to meet up with Dwayne, Ron, Amy, and a few others we have grown to love personally.

Dwayne told me on Sunday that his whole life people have always told him to get lost.  In fact, at 14 years of age, his mother told him to go.  There was a whole story to that, but Dwayne is missing most of his teeth so catching the whole story was a bit difficult.  Nonetheless, his birthday is July 27th.  He'll be 54.  I can't wait to bring him a cake and some balloons.  More than anything I want him to know that when I said, "You are loved and cherished, you just haven't met the right ones to show you that yet,"  that he knows I mean it.  Despite the amount of spit that lands on my arm while listening to him, or the dirt caked all over his arms and hands, or how rough he looks, or even how bad he smells of alcohol (even though he swears he doesn't drink anymore), he is still worthy of relationships and love.  He loves telling stories, and I love listening to them.  At least the parts I can understand!

I'll be updating what we are focusing on for July's outreach.  The overwhelming request from those on the streets was SHORTS!  So, needless to say, I'm going to be asking for the shorts off your butts!  

In other Torres news, a certain little princess got her cast off yesterday! This is her last pic with that pink bad boy right before it was sawed off her pretty little arm...

 

She did so great getting it off. One thing I wasn't prepared for was the weakness in her arm coming across as soreness.  As soon as the tech took the cast off and walked out, the tears came.  She was scared about how her arm was feeling.  Thankfully, the ortho saw a great report in the Xray.  Her elbow was healing nicely and no cast needed. 

We walked out with temporary removable splint for wearing when riding bikes or scooters, but other than that, nothing is needed.  We've been swimming 2 days in a row and she's getting more and more confident with using her right arm.  She still has not fully extended her arm, but we're believing over the next few weeks that will happen.  She's made great progress just in the last 24 hours.

We really appreciate all the prayers and support from everyone.  It means a lot to our family and to Little Miss.  Love you all!

Turning the Hearts

I have done this whole 'Yes/No' dance in my head all day.  Do I?  Do I not?  Is what I'm really trying to get across going to come across that way?  OR, is it a 'Look at what we're doing' type thing?

So it came down to this...

Yesterday I met a man named Larry.  Little Man and I had the opportunity to hand Larry some brand new socks and put them in his new back pack.  The one he traded out for his holey Walmart sack.  Then Chunky Monkey and Little Miss handed Larry a new toothbrush, soap, and toothpaste. Larry was friendly, had a spark in his eye, and knew what he wanted.  Larry let us in his world.  Let us serve him and in turn let us open up to a little more love.  Through his hurt, he still had joy.  I am thankful for him.

We live a pretty cush life here at the Torres household.  In fact, having a home puts us in the top percentage of wealthiest people in the world.  Puts a little perspective in life, right?  Yes, you, having a home makes you rich compared to the total population on Earth.  Being in the upper percentage of cush life livers, we wanted to make sure we extend ourselves even in inconvenient times to show others what you have or do not have makes no difference on the quality of love you receive.  A person is a person no matter how small...  I love me some Dr. Suess!

I digress...

When I started our list of service projects each month for 2014, I thought it would serve at different places each month allowing the kids to find their passion in serving.  After spending an hour at Tulsa Homeless Outreach, I knew we were to go back next month.  Watching and helping people find what they were needing, I realized we have those things in our home...unused...just sitting there...collecting dust...overabundance...doing nothing.  I couldn't NOT go back.

So this is where we stand for February.  My little family of 5 will be meeting at 11th & Denver on February 23rd @ 3pm again.  In the meantime, the needs we saw is what I am asking for.  If you would like to help, here's what would be great...

• Socks.  Ladies' and Men's.  Darker colors work best because you can't tell if they are dirty.  The black ones went first.  White ones were taken, but only after all the black ones were gone.
• Shoes.  Sturdy comfortable shoes.  I witnessed a man in flimsy house shoes trying to find shoes in his size.  His foot looked to be about a 13, like Steven's, but he settled for a much smaller shoe and put them on.  OUCH!  Can you imagine settling for a shoe 2-3 sizes too small?
• Backpacks.  Again, dark colors and pockets galore.  Duffle bags work too!
• Individual sized snacks, travel size wipes, bottled water, band-aids, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss...my mom had a great idea of making blessing bags to pass out. 

I realize many of you love visuals.  I didn't take my phone for pictures because I had this feeling in my own head of, "Look what we're doing."  That's where I am so thankful for my SIL.  She had her phone and made it so natural to take pictures.  She is gifted in so many ways I am not.  I love her to pieces.  So here's our kiddos stepping out and serving.

 Could we all take a moment and pay some respects to the lady pushing the stroller?  That's me.  My mom is in the blue. Don't confuse us.  I am the one who had run 4 miles, rushed to a pedicure I earned from Arbonne, and then never showered.  Let's all say it together...'Ewwwwww!'  I'm not gonna lie.  I was stinky!

 

 The kids getting right in and helping people find items they needed.

 

I want to brag on Chunky Monkey for a bit.  My nephew has always been so shy to meet new adults.  Like hide behind you and not want to look.  Not while serving.  He went up to every person and asked if they wanted a new toothbrush, floss, or toothpaste.  In fact, he asked so many that he was out of brushes before anyone else.  He has always had such a compassionate heart towards others. We were blown away on his ability to remove his own fears because compassion took over.

I would love to have you join us in February.  Until then, please partner with our family in collecting these goods!