Walking with a purpose

It's easy to feel purposeless, especially when you have tons of schoolwork, work, and social activities that consume every waking moment. It leaves Laura the introvert with little or no time for reflection. I feel like I must be doing something purposeful and productive at all times, and am constantly analyzing this. Are my classes purposeful? Am I purposeful with relationships? Am I purposeful in my work with the city?

One of the huge tasks I've worked on this past year is the annual Homeward Bound 5K walk, which raises money for 11 benefiting nonprofit agencies. The funds raised are used to help alleviate poverty and homelessness in Bloomington. Up until now, I didn't feel that excited about it. I couldn't really picture the event itself, and when I wrote articles or talked to the media, I felt like I could only speak vaguely about it.

But... I got to experience the walk today. All the planning and meetings and sweat paid off. From the wee hours of this morning to late afternoon, I was helping with the walk and I loved it! We gathered at Third Street park in the beautiful, cozy downtown. The park is surrounded by the police station, a women's domestic violence shelter, and my church, which meets in the Boys' and Girls' Club. The grass was green, there were gorgeous tulips blooming everywhere, and the weather was perfect. At least 800 walkers showed up, in addition to about 150 volunteers. All the entertainers, the mayor and other VIPs, and our Homeward Bound Committee did a great job. Several of my friends also came and walked.

I had to work at registration and run around coordinating things, but I still had time to talk to old people and young people and hippy people and conservative people. There was such a diverse array of folks who showed up. A lot of the media came, and we ended up raising at least $50,000. So, in the end, the Homeward Bound walk seemed purposeful. For an afternoon the community came together to raise awareness and money for food kitchens and shelters helping the homeless population in Bloomington.

Lastly, I have less than a month of school somehow! Soon my first year of graduate school will (hopefully) be successfully completed, I will embark on an internship in D.C., and will turn 25! I'm just praying to the Father that He will continue to put purpose in the steps I take. Maybe I'll end up back in China, which is my dream, but for now I have to keep walking purposefully here.

Sadly, I didn't bring my camera to the walk today. But I have a picture from Friday when I invited my two sweet Chinese classmates for dinner at my abode.