This past weekend a youth group came to Guyan Valley with decorations and food for a huge Christmas party and presents for almost 50 kids and grandkids of the families we have served this fall. It was an amazing party and I felt rejuvenated getting to work with youth again--their joy and full hearts for service (for the RIGHT reasons) is refreshing and gives me hope that some things can really be changed through this organization. From previous volunteer group donations we were able to line our whole hallway with tables of clothes, shoes, toys and games for all ages so that families could go "shopping." One parent was asked to go to a secret room where all the presents were wrapped, at least 5 boxes per child and then an extra gift for the household, and some of the youth carried the gifts out to the car while the kids did crafts. There was a wonderful lunch for everyone and afterwards Christmas carols, a nativity pageant (done by the children of our families) and a visit from Santa! The whole weekend was incredible and definitely what I needed to re-center on why I feel called to be here.
On Monday night we had an office Christmas party in Johnson City, TN that was pretty fun as well. It started with a great meal, some Christmas trivia and an encouraging speech from our CEO, Walter Crouch. The folks in headquarters are very interesting outside of the office and it was great getting to know them better. We also got to spend some time with the other Lilly Fellows and we always enjoy having some time to relax together outside of work.
We're back to work in the morning, but only for a few days until I get to go home on Monday!
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| Merry Christmas from the Guyan Valley Staff! |
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