Serving Others as a Family

"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive'."

Acts 20:35

Reading the verse above you can see that it is evident that as Christians we should always serve others and help those in need. Jesus tells us that it is far better to give than to receive. There are quite a few verses in the Bible instructing us to serve others rather than keeping our talents to ourselves. 

With today's generation, the act of serving others is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Selfishness has set in with the world and the only person most people want to help is themselves, if that. This has been weighing on my heart heavily lately. I do not want our kids to grow up selfish like so many are today. I want them to give to others and help where needed. I want them to put the feelings of others before their own. I want them to teach their children and their children's children.

As I was thinking about this the stark realization hit me that I have not been teaching them this. It is up to the parents to teach their children this fast-fading act of kindness. So often opportunities have risen for us to serve others and {I} was the one that brushed it off! How sad is that? It breaks my heart that I have not been serving others or teaching my kids to! 

So...I've decided that now is as good a time as any to start serving others and teaching my family about it as well. I've been thinking of things we can do as a family and brainstorming with the kids ideas they have of ways we can serve others. We've come up with a few things and will be adding to the list as we think of more.

Without any more rambling here is our list of ideas of ways to serve others:

1. Meals to New Moms/Bereavements

          - I know first-hand how great a feeling it is when someone brings you a meal when you have a new baby. The feelings of exhaustion are ever present and meal time quickly becomes your least favorite part of the day. The loss of a family member is also an overwhelming time for a family so a meal would be a nice thing to receive. 

2. Reading to the Elderly

          - Three of our children are at the age of really learning how to read and we are always looking for ways to get them to read more. Many elderly people in the nursing homes have no family that regularly visit them so we thought this would be a great way to combine two things--the children reading and visiting with people that don't usually have many visitors.

3. Writing to Missionary Kids

          - This is one I'm still looking into trying to find how to go about getting names and addresses for the kids to do this. 

4. Random Acts of Kindness

         - Opening the door for someone else, buying someone lunch, helping put groceries in the car...etc.

5. Volunteer in Community

         - We have a children's homeless shelter in a nearby town and I've wanted to take our kids over there to play with them and hopefully that would teach our kids to be thankful for what they have because so many other kids have nothing at all. 

6. Serve God by Serving YOUR Family

          - More often than I'd like to admit, I get selfish feelings wondering why I don't get the recognition and appreciation for what I do in our home. I've been praying hard about this too. I should not have to get anything in return for me to joyfully serve my family. I should wash clothes like I'm cleaning them for the Lord. I should cook dinner like I'd be serving it to our King. I should work harder at keeping a tidy home like Jesus was about to walk in to it. I should do it all with a smile on my face and happiness in my heart!!

7. Share Your Talents

          - Can you sew? Crochet? Build things? Cook/Bake? Whatever your talent may be it could be of use to someone around you. I've been wanting to learn to crochet to make hats for newborn babies in the NICU at a local Children's Hospital. I've also thought about blankets too. 

8. Volunteer at Local Animal Shelters

          - Take the kids and go play with cute, cuddly animals for a few hours. Maybe help give them baths. I'm sure the kids would enjoy it and we know the animals would too!!

9. Babysitting Swap

          - Very rarely do Drew and I have a few hours of time for just us so I know there are many other couple's out there with that issue too. I'm sure some of your friends could use some time without kids. Volunteer to keep the kids so the parents can enjoy some time alone. 

10. Donate 

          -Donate gently used clothing/household goods, food items, toiletries--whatever you can-- to homeless shelters to help those that are less fortunate to you. 

This is but a short list of ways to serve others around you. We will be implementing these ideas into our routines and hopefully coming with more to add to our list so that it would be possible to serve others every day!! 

What are some ways your family serves others? 

Ashley