Every Day is Different

A typical day for me starts around five in the morning. I like being a morning person because it gives me a few hours of personal time for plenty of coffee, prayer, and writing before my day of service begins. Despite being up so early, I don’t leave the house to get to my service site, Francis House, until about five or ten minutes before 8:30. My walk from the volunteer house to Francis House is less than half a mile so it doesn’t take too long to get there.

One of my favorite things about serving at Francis House is that every day is different. I do a little bit of everything around the house, from visiting with residents and their families to helping prepare and organizing events like orientation for new volunteers. My favorite place to be is in the kitchen preparing meals for residents and their families. I enjoy getting to know them by sitting with them while they eat, cooking and baking for them, and chatting when they hang out in the great room.

I’m also known by many of the kitchen volunteers as the person encouraging everyone to bake muffins. We offer a variety of fresh baked cookies everyday, which are always popular, but after I noticed a few people asking for muffins I started baking them more consistently and they’re always such a big hit!

Similarly to Francis House, coming home to an evening in community leads to something a little different every day. If it’s not my night to cook dinner, I typically use the time until we eat to catch up on some craft projects, usually knitting or cross stitching. Sometimes after dinner we enjoy quiet nights together, and other nights we join events like game nights or visit Syracuse University for Mass and dinner. There’s a little something different every night, but it’s always a lot of fun. We end our night together in prayer, and get ready to do it all again the next day!

Categories: General

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