"Never let a problem to be solved become more important then a person to be loved."

It being a month of Thanksgiving, I've thought of these words multiple times. With the kids being big time Halloween fans, and me and Lester being hard core Christmas people, I sometimes feel like although we attempt to give Thanksgiving some love, it tends to get a little bit neglected around here. So this year, apart from doing our normal things, we felt the need to do something more to show out gratitude, in the form of service and paying it forward. When Lester first approached me with the details of his friend and co worker's recent cancer diagnosis, I was eager to help-but when he suggested a bake sake, in all honesty I was a little hesitant. Not so much because of the work, but more so bc we had just had a fundraiser to help our other friends-and I feel like everyone must be getting tired of us doing fundrasiers or having all these big life events haha. And truthfully, there was also a level of pride in 'well what if the things I bake don't turn out perfectly!' etc. But then, I would always come back to this quote and remember that even though this was a problem that I couldn't solve for this friend,it WAS someone I could help, and someone I could love and serve. And I think this is an important lesson for me, and for my girls. So, we went forward with it! We planned it for the entire month of November, with pies and fall themed foods. We spread the word with social media and in person to friends and family-and we set in mind a goal we we're hoping to make, thinking if we didn't hit it we could donate the rest, and then, for a few days we waited. And although it got off to a slow start, once the orders came in they kept building and building until they snowballed. On the day before Thanksgiving alone, we ended up making 20 pies, which may not sound that impressive, but since everything was front scratch it was haha. So we were happy and if I'm honest, a little proud and relieved when that was done haha. In total, we ended up making around 8 dozen cinnamon rolls, 32 pies, 11 dozen cookies, and four loaves of bread. Because of the insane kindness of generosity of others, we made well over 1,000 dollars, and were able to ease a friend's burden, especially as he is now out of work recovering from surgery. And I know he, and I [along with Lester and the kids] feel NOTHING but gratitude and love as a result of this. All that said, I think its easy to get stresssed out when your trying to do a lot different things at once-its like when theres a party and you feel like theres just not enough hours in the day to do all the things you want to make it perfect. And yet, this time, no matter how much we had going on, I never once felt overly stressed or like it was too much. I think the reason for that was two things-the first of course was Lester. From day one, with long Costco grocery trips, hours of hand making a million pies crusts and fillings, all the way down to delivery, he was right there with me doing it all, and meanwhile helping me keep the girls entertained and loved. And I enjoyed every second of that, talking and working together. The second factor I think is that we truly lost ourselves in service-I know that sounds so Molly Mormon-but that doesnt make it any less true! I think when you are constantly directing your thoughts to someone else, and what they are going through, and how you can help them-it makes it fairly difficult to focus on how miniscule your problems with pie crust or feeling a little overwhelmed are-it just makes you think about doing MORE good, and that lifts the soul and heart I think. I know I already said this, but I can't stress enough how GRATEFUL I feel and how much I learned and gained from this experience. I'm grateful for so many people, from all different parts of our lives, who came together to help us ease someones problem, and help him feel loved and supported. You have all been such instrumental in helping us light even just this one person's world. Thank you thank you THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us in this journey. Thank you for not letting all the problems to be solved in our crazy world become more important then someone to be loved. And now-onward and forward to a fun and light filled Christmas in the bay with the family. Life is GOOD!