Giving of yourself is priceless and incredibly rewarding.
Yesterday we talked about self-care and nurturing you with #nuture900. Today (now that you are sufficiently nurtured, that is), we’re turning around the focus and looking at how we can serve and nurture those who you probably don’t even know. Giving of your time is priceless, and so incredibly rewarding. While giving financially is critical — blessing others from the monetary bounty with which you have been blessed — offering your time in getting involved, giving up your personal time and energy – that’s on a whole different level. Touching another life face-to-face touches the heart, and brings the reality home. If you think you have nothing to give… think again.
You have gifts and talents, realized and undiscovered, just waiting to be offered.
Can you sort cans and stock a shelf, or put groceries in a bag? Your local food pantry needs you. Can you walk a dog? Clean a stall? There are always animal rescue shelters that need assistance. Can you carry a bucket or hammer in a nail? Help build a house with Habitat for Humanity. Can you read out loud? Check your local library to see about helping read to children. Can you speak another language? Teach at your local ESL location. Can you sort clothes? Volunteer at a local charity-based thrift store (and give them your gently used articles of clothing while you’re at it).
When you are making a meal for your family, cook enough for a second meal and freeze it, so that the next time a friend or a friend of a friend needs a meal (if they’re sick or just had a baby), you can provide the meal for them. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Find your local community and/or senior center to see where they could use an extra pair of hands. Do the same for your local library or art museum. If you’re crafty, offer to teach a class at an after-school program or a children’s club. If you knit or sew or crochet, there are many places that need blankets. This is just the tip of the iceberg – google “where can I volunteer” to get a ton of other ideas. Pick something you’re passionate about, and find out how you could volunteer.
Sometimes the best way to nurture and love ourselves is to stop being so self-focused and get out of our own comfort zone to turn ourselves towards the needs of others. You always come away the more blessed for it. The commitment doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Start with once. Just once. Then maybe that will turn into once a month, or more. Pray about it. You’ll know when your gifts and talents will match just the right organization or way in which you can donate your time, and your love.
The return on investment can’t be measured. You have no idea how much you are needed. Yes, you. Those two hands. That smile. That heart.
Comment below on where you volunteer, and how you came to choose that place/organization.
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