reaching outside of ourselves

    I have had a jumble of thoughts rolling around in my mind.  It has felt like a big bowl
of tossed salad in there lately.  Or maybe the clothes spinning 'round and 'round in the dryer.  I am trying to make sense of it all and type it out. 

Here is my best shot.


   Last year when Kyle was without a job, a neighbor and ward member came up to me
in church one Sunday and said, "I can't do very much to help you out financially, but what I
can do is your taxes."  Well, who can refuse an offer like this?  Taxes, balancing the check
book and going to the movies alone are thing I try and avoid at all costs.  She didn't do
anything "grand" or "big", but she helped us out in her own simple way.  It was greatly appreciated. (She also got us a FABULOUS refund as well--Kyle being unemployed for
half the year certainly helped.)

   This year, that same neighbor and ward member was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
She is 40, the mother of 3 children.  Her husband is my sons AP History Teacher at
Olympus High School.  It is something that is touching the lives of our little community deeply.
As I am sure the word "cancer" always does.  She has a battle to fight and is ready to do it.


   This year, I say the same thing to HER.  "I cannot do much to take away your disease, or
pain--but I can make you dinner."  Will it be the end all of all things?  Certainly not.  But for
one night she won't have to worry about making a meal for her family and they will be fed.  In a SMALL way, it will be a blessing.  One less thing to worry about.  The lifting of a burden by those who care.  Just as she blessed MY family last year.

   This past Monday, for Family Home Evening, we talked about setting goals for the New Year.
We had some of the usual things on our list.  I also felt strongly that I wanted to add "find more
ways to serve" to the family goals for 2011.  But not just serve, I want to find ways to REALLY
serve.  Meaningful service. 

   Back to last year.  The holidays were upon us, we had been unemployed for almost 6 months
and wondered how we would make Christmas happen.  There honestly were not any great expectations for pricey gifts.  We were all good with that.  In some ways, it was the BEST
Christmas I think our family has ever had.  Last year, we were also the recipients of MANY acts of service and kindness to our family.  The month of December was FILLED with anonymous
gifts and donations left upon our doorstep.  We will never know who left those things.  They
filled our home, our hearts and our souls.  While it is always especially humbling to be on the receiving end of "service," it is truly a beautiful and wonderful experience.  I can honestly
say it is a place EVERYONE needs to find themselves in at some point in their life.  There is
something deeply healing in knowing that other people are helping you get through a rough spot in life.  It amazed me how many people reached out to our family in love last year.  It was humbling.  It was overwhelming.  It brought me to my knees, my heart over-flowing with gratitude
many times throughout the holiday season, and beyond.

   The real "gift" of service and being served is, we almost ALWAYS have the opportunity to move out of "recipient" mode and into "giving back" mode.  It is a cycle that circles round and round within the bigger circle of life.

  All of that being said, THIS YEAR, I want to find better, richer, "more real", deeper ways to serve.  I want this personally for myself, and also for my family.   Not for the glory of having done something nice, or good, or kind.  But because I want to dig more deeply inside of myself to become just a little more kind, more thoughtful, less "ME" thinking.

   I want to reach outside of myself.  MORE.  It may not always be convenient, or comfortable. 
Or easy, or fun.  But I believe in the power of giving and getting.  I believe in the power of people coming together to help for a common cause.  I believe many great things can be accomplished
through simple acts of love, and kindness, and service.

   How about you?