Wednesday, July 16, 2025

 0800 hours
Our intrepid team gathered bright and early to find the following message:
    Hello LUMC Agents.
    The community around you could use your help as the hands and feet of God. Today, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to volunteer at Blessings Abound. Your first step is to find Eric. He will have all the details for your mission. This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds (but not really, for it is forever on the internet.)

Well accept it, we did.

We traveled down State Line to the Martin City location of Blessings Abound at 135th
Street, where we found Head Agent Eric, who gave us six assignments to complete.

Assignment ONE: Our special operatives (Agents Anna, Caleb, Zack, Tyler, Bruce,
Gene, and Jinhee) moved heavy boxes of classified materials (articles of clothing suited
for cold weather) from one very high shelving to another for seasonal storage.

Assignment TWO: Meanwhile, field agents Pam, Olive, Barb, Melanie, and Corbin,
ventured into the storefront with racks and racks and racks of clothing that
needed to be dispersed throughout the store. Corbin’s side quest during this time was to
sing songs and get them stuck in everyone’s heads. He succeeded.

Assignment THREE: At multiple times throughout the day, we gathered to continue the
ongoing assignment of sorting and checking clothes for rips/tears/stains and any other
unwanted qualities. The items we deemed unfit were gathered into a giant receptacle
(Tyler and Corbin tried to tame this monster by scaling it and smashing its ever-growing
mass!)

1200 hours
The fearless team took a quick break for sustenance (consisting of PB&J
and Deli sandwiches – delicious!) and shopping (treasure-finders were rewarded with a
25% discount!)

Assignment FOUR: After lunch, agents sorted LOTS of hangers by style and color, and
then bundled some of them for sale. It was a mental puzzle, and we met the challenge.

Assignment FIVE: Other agents tackled boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations.
Blessings Abound receives MANY Christmas items, so the team was tasked with
deciding which items could be sold for $5 or more, and which needed to head to the
trash/recycling bins.

Assignment SIX: Agents Caleb and Zack helped at the storefront by collecting
donations and transporting them to the back for sorting. There is so much going on all
the time here, and we were impressed at how well they operate their mission!

1500 hours. Before heading back to headquarters for our evening activities, our agents took a refueling detour to Dairy Queen to celebrate the completion of 50% of this mission (we’ll be there again tomorrow!). It was refreshing and tasty. As we write, the dinner crew is busy prepping pulled pork, baked beans, and salad for our evening meal. The devotion crew has prepared a meaningful time of reflection and worship. And this crew, your blogging crew, is happily finishing our evening report from HQ.

Remember readers, this information is classified. But if you accidentally share the news
of the good things going on at Blessings Abound, we will not be mad. It was great to
spend the day there helping our community.

Respectfully submitted,
Agents Anna, Olive, Pam, and Melanie