Why should we serve as a family unit?
In our modern culture of busyness and everyone doing their own thing, we have lost some of the aspects of community and building one another up. It is so easy to focus on my to-do list, my schedule, my responsibilities, etc. It’s more difficult to take the time to look outside of my world and do something that might be uncomfortable or inconvenient, but oh so worthwhile and vital!
Serving is about helping someone else. Serving others has POWERFUL effects, individually and when done as a family unit.
Check out the acronym “SERVICE” for just some of the reasons why we should prioritize serving with our families:
S- selflessness. Serving and helping someone else forces us to look outside of ourselves. It exemplifies the fact that we are not isolated. We are made to be living in community which means helping one another. Ironically, when we are looking inward and focusing on ourself and our own little world, we are more anxious and unhappy. However, research shows that people who volunteer and serve others tend to be more fulfilled, less anxious, and happier overall.
E- edify. Not only is volunteering and serving edifying others, it also edifies the one who is serving. Don’t we all just want to be encouraged and lifted up, especially in our darkest moments and most challenging seasons. The last thing somebody wants when they are struggling is a lecture, judgement, criticism, or negativity. Let’s embrace the opportunity to be light, joy, and hope to someone who is in a difficult chapter of life!
R- review needs. Putting our children and families into various service situations, different volunteering opportunities, mission trips, or even just bringing a meal to someone teaches them to look for the needs of others. It empowers them to really see people, assess a situation, and respond accordingly. This can in turn, develop leadership skills, problem solving skills, and critical thinking in our children. Yes, please!
V- viewpoint. It’s all about perspective! Our society is plagued with stereotypes and mis-judgements. A lot of those melt away when we start to interact with people and learn their story. It is a lot more difficult to judge someone or be critical when we get to know them, see their heart, and learn their struggles. It opens us up to compassion, patience, and kindness.
I- initiative. It takes initiative to step out of our ordinary routines and comfortable comfort zones and intentionally serve others. However, our children and families will develop a sense of purpose and mission as well as embark on a journey of helping fellow humans in this life adventure.
C- character building. Or courage. Or connection. Or compassion. All of these are effects of serving others. It takes courage to step into the unknown and to do something outside of ourselves. We are making the choice to give our time and effort to somebody or something else. Compassion and connection emerge from volunteering. One surefire way to build upon our children’s character is to get them to serve others!
E-empathy. Empathy seems to be declining in our society. In order to remedy some of our unempathetic status, let’s put ourselves into situations where we have to interact and help a fellow human being. Most often, just talking to somebody and learning their background, their story, their hopes, can open our hearts to sensitivity and understanding.
The adage “more is caught than taught” is so true. Let’s give our children the opportunity to see us, the parents, serving others and make it a priority to serve as a family unit. Instilling this virtue into our children while young will give them the opportunity to take the habit with them into adulthood.
We are NOT just adding something else to our already full to-do list.
We are NOT trying to “be good” or just “do the right thing.”
We are undertaking a mission to develop an attitude of serving others in our children and our family unit.
One way we do this is by ending our day with the question: “Who did you help today?” This is a wonderful dinnertime question as we sit around the table discussing our day or can also be a great bedtime question as we reflect over the past 12-15 hours.
I admit, it can be overwhelming to think, “How in the world can I volunteer with my children?” “Where?” “What does that look like?”
Here are some suggestions coming from our family’s personal experience:
Get to know your local ministries, non-profit organizations, and community based establishments.
Ask for a tour of the grounds/facility so you can learn about their mission and purpose.
Then, ask how you can help. Let them know who would be volunteering with you (the number and ages of your children), how often you can serve, and your family’s capabilities. Some ministries and organizations have more family-oriented service projects than others, so don’t be discouraged if one or more don’t align with your family’s current capacity.
At-home projects
Blessing bags for the homeless
Birthday baskets for children in support homes, foster care, single-mom programs, etc.
Make fleece scarves or fleece tie blankets to donate to the local homeless shelter
Make cards for seniors in nursing homes, cards for soldiers, or cards for children in hospitals
Organize a diaper drive, canned food drive, shoe drive, etc. for people in need
Animal shelters need items donated & volunteers to help with the animals
National/State parks offer volunteer programs for adults and kids alike
Food Banks/Soup Kitchens- sign up to prep food or serve a meal
The elderly- offer to deliver meals, grocery shop, or drive our older generation to their doctor’s appointments
Plant flowers, clean up litter- this can be done at a park, the side of a road, the beach, a neighbor's house, etc.
Kids in hospitals
Sign up to volunteer with Ronald McDonald House (an organization that supports parents whose kiddos are in the hospital)
Look for organizations in the area that distribute goody bags, cards, or other essentials to kiddos with long-term illness
Foster children- different areas have various ways to serve children in the foster care system:
Donate clothes/shoes
Donate suitcases
Organize a “foster parent night out” where the foster family’s kiddos are entertained while the parents get a date night away
A while back, my 2 youngest boys and I made cookies to deliver to people in the neighborhood as a “have a great day” pick-me-up. After traveling to various neighbors and talking with a couple of the elderly single women in the neighborhood, we were walking back home when my youngest said, “This has made me so happy.” And that is why serving others is so important! That moment was a wake-up call to me of the impact serving can have on our children and our families.
Weekly Challenge: Make contact with a local charity, organization, or mission in your community and find out how your family can get involved. Share in the comments your family service projects-let’s build a community of encouragement!
