So I, yes me, the recovering inactive woman, has been asked to speak to our church group about Service.
The person who asked me to speak said my name kept coming to her mind. I'm under no disillusionment that she felt impressed to ask me to speak based on my many experiences with both receiving and giving service, but rather I believe it is one way the Lord (who works in mysterious ways) is trying to bring me back into His fold. I only hope I can do the topic some justice and combine wit with interest and zero judgement.
But seriously, part of me wants to read the mission statement of Relief Society and then make an aside about how there is nothing in that whole statement that even begins to rhyme with the word ass-erole. Casserole (or hit and run dinners, as I refer to them) do the term "Service" a real disservice.
I know that we are all busy and casseroles can sometimes be a huge sacrifice in the preparing and delivering thereof, but and I mean a really BIG but, feeding bodies can only do so much when a person's spirit is a starving, malnourished thing.
Being in the middle of continual medical/financial/familial/whatever else you can possibly conjur up here crises takes a toll on a person. A heavy toll. It is easy to offer up trite statements such as: You're so strong, the Lord must really think you're capable, or the Lord must really love you to try you so much. (I will admit that on these occasions I may have had the passing unchristian thought: "Well I wish He'd spread the love a little more so you can realize just how great it is to be thought so capable and loved so well.") But I digress.
The main point I'd like to get across tomorrow evening is that we all have our trials, our difficulties in life (even those of us who strongly resemble Malibu Barbie, and maybe even especially then.)
We all have those fleeting moments where a thought, or an idea enters our mind of a small ( sometimes very small) thing we ought to do for someone else: a note, a phone call, a can I pick up anything at the store for you, would your kids like to join our family for an activity or even asking what is it that would help your family best right now?
So, we have these thoughts, but the real trick is to turn them into ACTION and by that I do not mean we put them on a "to-do" list where we can so handily check them off until next month. I mean that we follow through no matter if we can see the benefit in doing so or not, and especially if we think we might feel foolish in following through with a kind word, a phone call, or holding their baby. The key is to follow through. It is like practicing scales on the piano and working your way up to your recital piece. Each practice leads to a better outcome for the next performance. WE are in effect, tuning ourselves to be more appreciative listeners and it's my hope that in our Visiting Teaching assignments we can, over time, learn what it is that is most important to the women in our charge. At the very least, we ought to know that a vegan family is not going to appreciate a Meat-Lover's pizza or Sloppy Joes for dinner (and vice versa).
To be continued....I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this subject, I'm obviously quite biased.
