The Juicy Joy of Serving
I have heard it said that the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Have you ever heard this? Do you buy into it? I know I do and as we wrap up our theme for 2019 I really want to look at service and what it can do for you and for me.
I started out this January writing about why I hate New Year’s Resolutions and I shared my theme for this year which is “GUTS”.
G-Gratitude
U-understanding
T-Transformation
and today I want to focus on the “S” in GUTS which is service.
Service -the action of helping or doing work for someone
Why service? Because I firmly believe by reaching out to help others we move beyond ourselves and it is there that we grow. When you are truly serving others the mindset shifts from ‘me’ to ‘we’. We slowly get out of ourselves and we begin to truly discover how much we have to offer this world and how much the world needs us. Us! Not our knowledge but our hearts full of love, our ears ready to listen, and our hands willing to help others. Sure our pocket books help. They help a lot! But you and me being present helps more.
Why? Because as my father has always said, “The world is made up entirely of people”. People who are hurting, people who are scared, people who are sick, people who are poor….People who need people like you and me to listen, love, and help where we can. People who can look them in the eye and say, “I am here, I will listen.” People who can hold their hand when they are scared. People who can rub their back or just sit with them when they are sick. People who can help them build when they have nothing. People! People! People! People who can be empathetic, who can relate, who can listen, who can help, who can love.
When you change your mindset to a mindset of serving powerful things begin to happen. Your heart becomes naturally a heart full of gratitude and all the self centeredness begins to slowly dissipate and you find yourself full of joy. So all the time you are serving others it is really coming back to you two fold! When you find yourself full of joy what greater gift is that?
When I was single I did a lot of serving. It was just me and my four dogs. Yep, I was that girl….four dogs and a cat to be exact. I digress….back to serving. I like to think it all started in elementary. I remember there was this girl Tracy who came to our class often. She was in an orange wheel chair. I know now, but I did not know then, she probably has or had cerebral palsy. She drooled a lot and made noises but could not talk. She and I became friends. I am not really sure how since she could not talk, but I think it is because I was not scared of her and I would hold her hand and brush her hair with my hands. She had short, dark, hair I remember and sometimes it got drool in it, but I did not care. One day Tracy brought me juicy fruit gum! I was so proud and I could see and feel she was too. We had our communication Tracy and I. It worked for us and we were friends. I like to think my heart of service started at Woodland Elementary, in Graham, Texas, with an orange wheel chair, a gal by the name of Tracy who could not talk, but could make noises and drool. You know what else she could do? She brought me joy! Joy when she would react to something I said or did and EXTREME JOY when she brought me juicy fruit. To this day when I see Juicy Fruit gum I say a prayer for Tracy and I smile.
You see, my little acts of touching her hands, talking to her knowing she could not talk, or brushing her hair, made Tracy feel loved, but the gift I received unknowingly as an elementary kiddo has been amazing! Think about it. EVERY TIME I see Juicy Fruit I well with joy. What a gift that is. That gift carried over and in college my husband Trey and I would volunteer at Camp John Marc. An amazing camp for kids with terminal illnesses. From there I volunteered at Challenge Aspen, Buckner, The Clayton Dabney Foundation, the LLSA, and now our Church. What I started realizing is my passion is I like working with kids. Preferably sick kids, but kids. How do I know this? Because I tried working with Young Lives and while they are kids I know where my passion lies and my heart was not there. My point is. Where is your heart? Maybe yours is with the elderly? Or with the homeless? Or the underprivileged? Abused Women? Addiction Centers? Veterans? I am not sure, but I promise you there is an organization out there that could use you and believe it or not you could use. You just have to find it. Sometimes that takes time.
How to figure out where?
Like I said this can take time. Like anything else in life it is trial and error. I knew the year I signed up to volunteer with Young Lives it was not for me. Not because of the kids per say, because I fell in love with my two little teen mamas, but it was the time I needed to put in that I did not have in this season in life. Right now my time is best served at our church, with my own children, doing mission trips or being a group leader at our Women’s Retreat. That is just the season I am in. No way could I do what I was doing when I was single. It was amazing and I hope to do it all again someday, but I have to keep my priorities straight and so do you so that giving back is not a drain, a stress, or worse something you hate.
Look at your season of life and figure out what works for you right now. Maybe it is serving at your child’s school or helping at a school with underprivileged children. Maybe it is a soup kitchen. Maybe it is the foster care system, or your church, the point is there is plenty of need in this world. Challenge yourself! If you have never served maybe set the goal of doing one thing this year. Just one thing! Or maybe something once a month, or each quarter for someone else. If you serve often, maybe make that goal a little loftier like a mission trip…..whatever it is think about it, pray on it, and I promise the door will open. There is so much need for service and love in this world. Together let’s fill the need and watch what happens to your mindset and your heart.
The season of life I am in now requires me to be bring Graeme along to serve, but think of what that is doing for him as an individual! Don’t let having kids stop you. Bring them! Graeme LOVED mission trip!
If you need help finding an organization, I am committed to helping you. Just message me your interests or desires. I will research things. I am willing to do that! Do you know why? Because I want you to experience the Juicy Joy of Serving!
Until Next Time,
XO,
Amy
Need a real life story to inspire you. Check this one out! This story will move you and motivate you to want to change the world. One person at a time.
