I Vant to Suck Your Blood!

Okay, is it sick that I enjoy giving blood? I know...weird. Needles have never bothered me, so I don't mind giving a little time to give blood. It's definately for a good cause. Yesterday I had the opportunity to give blood once again. I was kind of looking forward to it since I haven't been able to for a while (between pregnancies and the restrictions from having lived in Europe) so I was more than happy to volunteer. Nothing unusual happend. I signed in, they checked to make sure my blood was good (one time I got turned down because I was low on iron), I sat for a while waiting for a vacant bed, then when I got on the bed, the tech was pretty quick about getting my arm cleaned and even drew a cute, little, purple rectangle around my vein that she was going to poke, and out came the blood. It only took about 5 minutes and then I was done. Pretty simple. My arm was wrapped in a green tape and Aydon became a little intrigued with it once I got home. He kept asking me if my arm was hurt. Later, when I was able to take the bandage off, he kept telling me "Eww...gross". Then he wanted to touch it. Funny kid. Unfortunately, I still have the cute, little, purple rectangle on my arm today. I promise, I tried scrubbing it off last night and today, but since the area is still a little sensitive, I didn't try super hard. Oh well, I can live with it for a day or two.

When You're In the Service...

This morning I had the opportunity to go to the Ogden cannery to volunteer with canning green beans. Oddly enough, the only other time that I've done it, we did green beans, too. While my task was a little monotonous, it gave me a lot of time to think about what a blessing the cannery is to people all over the world.
Today we canned over 20,000 cans od beans. I thought about how many people that will help. Before we actually started, the brother that was giving us instructions told us that normally they would only plant about 80 acres of beans. This year they planted over 180 acres! And what a need it has been. Somebody commented that it is quite evident who is the head of our church. Divine inspiration! As I watched the whole process and looked at the dozens of volunteers and service missionaries, I realized how very few people in the whole welfare system get paid. That's how the Lord wants it. We need to serve one another.
Usually, those who volunteer have access to buying other canned goods from the cannery. However, because there is such a need for food right now, volunteers could only purchase a limited number of beans, nothing else. That would have been a great reward in itself, but seeing how we have access to beans from my grandparents, I was not worried about buying any beans and I was able to see the blessings elsewhere. Just the knowledge the the Lord watches out for His children is a blessing.
I feel so grateful to have been apart of this opportunity, knowing that thousands of my brothers and sisters throughout the world will benefit from the help I gave today. It kind of reminds me of the Friends episode when Phoebe talks about there is no unselfish act because no matter what it is you do, you always get that warm feeling inside from doing something good. So be it...I like that warm feeling inside from helping others.