Chastity Baldwin

The most important value is my faith in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without him, I wouldn't be here doing this, and it's actually because of him. I was in a very dark place, had a lot of loss, and could not feel joy. I have many reasons to be joyful and to be thankful, and I am thankful and grateful, but I couldn't feel it. I didn't want to live like that forever because it was miserable. I was just existing, simply existing, and going through the motions. I begged God for an answer - tell me what you want me to do, I'll do it, just please let me find joy. And long story short, here we are. I do truly believe that God put me on this earth to serve people, and to care for people and help them. And since I've been doing this, that joy has come back twofold. It's actually overflowing my cup, which is wonderful because I put collection dishes around that overflowing cup, and then I give it to other people. You share the joy, you pay it forward, and that's what keeps the joy going. When we pray for this or that, sometimes some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. He may not give us what we're asking for, but he'll certainly give us the opportunity for it. If you pray for patience, he's not going to make you patient - he's gonna present you opportunities to be patient in. I was forgetting that. God, give me the joy back. No, the joy's there, you just forgot how to find it. And he reminded me of that.

Be true to yourself. That's sometimes really hard to do, because I think sometimes, in the mix of the world, and everything that we... some people are so easily swayed, and so easily convinced. You have core values, and then you come across someone that... there's just a lot of different things in the world, and don't allow yourself to get confused and lost in that whirlwind. Always stay true to yourself.

Don't take no for an answer. People are gonna look at you, and not always, but I have, even doing this work, I have found where people will dismiss you, or cast you to the side, or just ignore you, or not take you seriously, because you're female. God gave you a strong voice. He put us here to support - he gave us Eve to support Adam. He knew Adam needed us, so he created Eve. So be that voice. He created Eve out of Adam's rib to walk beside him, not behind him, not his foot bone to walk under him, not out of something in his head to be above him, but his rib to be equal and to walk beside him. Women are very important in the world. They're strong. I would tell women to go out there and be strong. Use your voice. Don't be afraid to be heard. If you have ideas, use them. God made us the loving, caring, nurturing of the two, right? So use that for good in the world. Put those values and those features on a pedestal for the world to see, because so many people in the world have lost sight of that. It's a power struggle, it's a rat race, and we're forgetting that what powers the world and the universe is love. We are all connected to God through love. Don't be afraid to get out there and illustrate that, and show the love, and spread the love, and promote it, and fight for it. There's too much animosity in the world. Let's forget the titles, because without the titles, we're all the same. The people that are loving each other and caring for each other, and spreading that joy, and that kindness, and that humility and grace - I think that's the kind of thing that needs to be promoted. We need some powerful, influential women, and when I say powerful, I mean powerful in their relationship with God. I don't mean power in the world, because that's worldly, it's meaningless. Powerful with their relationship with God. We need those people on the forefront encouraging women to stand up, and don't be afraid to lead.

Funding and participation are the two biggest challenges. Children these days, because we are community service based, and we do try to focus on getting the youth in the community engaged, because they need to see how important it is to remember where you came from and give back. It is very difficult to get kids engaged in some cases, because my generation of parents have given these kids too many options. When I was growing up, when I was in sports, our coach said, look, we're going to do this community service, and you don't have an option. You're doing it or you don't play. Period. It's not like that now. It's we're gonna do this fundraiser, and then oh, it's okay, I'll do it for you. Mom and Dad pick up the slack. It's not okay because we are raising a society of kids that are selfish, and self-centered. Funding is very difficult. I was very fortunate - I did an online grant writing class, and I was always a good writer in school, and I was wonderful at persuasive writing, which is primarily what grant writing is. I took the course, applied for a grant, wrote a grant, and got it. And it funded our supply closet at the school.

The most important value is my faith in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without him, I wouldn't be here doing this, and it's actually because of him. I was in a very dark place, had a lot of loss, and could not feel joy. I have many reasons to be joyful and to be thankful, and I am thankful and grateful, but I couldn't feel it. I didn't want to live like that forever because it was miserable. I was just existing, simply existing, and going through the motions. I begged God for an answer - tell me what you want me to do, I'll do it, just please let me find joy. And long story short, here we are. I do truly believe that God put me on this earth to serve people, and to care for people and help them. And since I've been doing this, that joy has come back twofold. It's actually overflowing my cup, which is wonderful because I put collection dishes around that overflowing cup, and then I give it to other people. You share the joy, you pay it forward, and that's what keeps the joy going.