Bella 2012

This past Saturday, August 4^th, I saw two months of phone calls, emails, volunteer meeting, coordinating, assigning jobs, hoping & praying finally come together.  I am pleased and humbled to say that Bella was a success! I had so much support from different members of the community, and it was a huge blessing for me to see so many aspects of the city of Bellflower come together on that day.

After the craziness of a 3-hour setup process in the blistering heat (thank you to my 12:00 PM volunteers!), running around making sure all of the artists and musicians had everything they needed, and about a hundred phone calls asking me, “Where are you? Where’s the extension cord? Are we out of tape?” etc., there was a point during the event where I got to sit down.  Sitting still, I saw people milling about that I didn’t know, which was comforting after weeks of fear that only my friends and family would show up.  I saw volunteers putting painstaking effort into giving kids the perfect, intricate face paint creation they were asking for.  I saw the members from InJOY Life Resources, Inc. (injoyliferesources.com) performing on stage and getting to be stars—a rare occasion for them.  I saw neighbors playing tag on the grass and others sitting in the shade enjoying the music, still others at one of the booths learning how to paint on canvas.  Through all of this I realized, after so much planning and preparation, “Today is a fun day!” 

Looking around at all that was going on, I saw people having a good time, and that was enough for me.  As I reflected on the event, I knew that Bella 2012 may not have been the same Bella we had in the past—different coordinator, different event.  It may have been smaller and it may have had a different vibe—I really don’t have anything to compare it to.  But this is good for me; a friend once taught me that comparison is the thief  of joy.  So I rest in the fact that summer is over, I put my heart into Bella, and I saw the Lord bless our work in multiple ways—for that I am so thankful.  Glory to Him!