You know, sometimes, when Life just falls into place and you realize that you are RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE?

Well…that’s me in a nutshell right now.  (It is because things have been busy falling into place that I haven’t been blogging so much lately)

Life is Good.  Surely, you’ve heard the phrase…but are you familiar with the company?  Up until 4 months ago, I wasn’t.  Well, of course I’d heard the phrase, but I didn’t know the story of Bert and John Jacobs.  And I didn’t know that these 2 brothers have managed, over the course of the last 14+ years, to harness the optimism that this little phrase suggests…and turn it into a phenomenon.  That phenomenon even has a character: Jake.

I won’t tell you everything, as I know they tell their story better than I ever could, but I will explain how the stars aligned to show me the light and get me on board the Life is Good train.

In June, my husband accepted a new job.  Before he had even started working, he was flown to a seminar in Florida.  You may remember me blogging about what a hard trip it was for him. (ha!)  Either way, the featured speaker at this event showed up barefoot, in a t-shirt and shorts and left Jeff with his mouth open.  Jeff called me that night and said he had just heard, “the best public speaker ever!” That speaker was Bert Jacobs, one of the brothers who founded Life is Good.  Jeff proceeded to share the story of Life is Good with me and made some business suggestions for ExtraordinaryMommy.com based on what he had heard. 

Bert talked about the Life is Good Festivals….events held in a number of cities around the country….they are free, family centered, and the money raised goes to help children facing unfair challenges through the Life is Good Kids Foundation. (This year the money raised is going to Project Joy…more about them in a minute). 

Being my husband, Jeff is, of course, privy to my big dreams for ExtraordinaryMommy.com and knows well that I had hoped to start a non-profit through the site that would benefit kids.

This was a light bulb moment for Jeff.  If the Life is Good Festival benefits kids….why shouldn’t he suggest I try to start one in the St. Louis area?  He knew we had never had one…..hmmm.

Here’s where the stars start to line up.

Jeff shares all this with me.  I start thinking.  And the next day, I start talking about it all to a girlfriend.  As I’m talking, I look to my right and recognize Jake, the Life is Good Ambassador, and a store I had never before noticed: Jake’s on Main.  Small world, right?  It gets better.

I want to go right in to the store.  My girlfriend…who has been patiently listening to my story, tells me she knows someone who works in the store.  We go in, and I meet Amy. (who my girlfriend knew)  Within 2 minutes of ‘hello’, Amy mentions she is working on planning the first Life is Good Festival for our area.  (Can you stand it?)

Out of my mouth flies an offer to help.  Followed closely by a string of sentences meant to convince Amy to truly take me up on my offer.

She did. I can’t explain why she took a chance on a stranger like me, but she did.

She made me the volunteer coordinator.  Heavenly.  In less than 60 days we managed to get close to 100 volunteers for the event.  Without these special people, this event couldn’t have had the power it did.  I am beyond grateful to the people who donated their time and energy to this event.

The Life is Good Festival was yesterday.  It was food.  It was music. It was arts and crafts.

 

 

 

 

 

         

Most importantly it was JOY and PLAY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You see that fantastic purple, green and red tent?  That was at the event courtesy of the tremendous, amazing (do you think I liked them) team from Project Joy.  What is Project Joy, you ask?  Here’s my take:  they believe that it is a child’s inalienable right to experience joy.  They say, “Children need food and water to survive. To live, they must play.”  Project Joy is making that happen.  They work with kids who have experienced trauma and they are putting the play, love and joy right back into their lives.

 

It was a long day.  It was so rewarding.  It was better than I dreamed. I worked with some fantastic people: John, Jim, and Dave from Life is Good, Steve and Ant from Project Joy, Scott and Sarah, who own Jake’s on Main.  (Scott was actually the ‘husband’ I mentioned the other day – lucky Sarah) Amy was in charge of the event. Tanya and Eric, Julie, Emma, and Elizabeth all worked hard for hours and hours…and then of course the volunteers.  I mentioned them once before, but it bears mentioning again: they were phenomenal.

Friends of mine stepped up to the plate and gave their time (thank you friends).  Dozens of people gave hours, some donated their entire day and then some.  I even watched someone enjoying the event step in to help.  Tremendous. 

And a special treat I didn’t even expect when I offered to volunteer….my very own booth.

Isn’t it sweet?  How much do I love my friends who spent their whole fabulous fall Saturday telling Moms all about ExtraordinaryMommy.com?  How much do I love them for their giving spirits and for their creative hands that helped me to make the goodies (cookies and flower pens) we gave away?

And for working with kids on little crafts?  Thank you friends.  Thank you volunteers.  Thank you husband for making sure I had the time to do the work I did on the Festival.  Thank you mother and father in law for volunteering.  Thank you volunteers.  Again.

I am truly blessed.  And I can’t wait to start planning for next year’s Festival.

 Life is Good.