Our Day of Service

With today being Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I wanted to finally make the day more meaningful for my kids and honor Dr. King and the Day of Service.  I decided last week, and shared with a couple of friends (so I HAD to follow through) that I would take my two older kids to Matthew 25 Ministries, a local organization that helps people everywhere.  By everywhere, I mean everywhere!  I'd always planned to make it meaningful in some way in the past, but, well, I guess I got lazy, indecisive, nervous, or well, lazy...But, no more.  In my earlier post about resolutions, I said this year I want to actually do rather than plan to do more for others. So, here we are!

We arrived as walk-ins along with some scheduled groups. It was less than 15 minutes that we waited and were on our way to our station.  This place is simply massive.  And well-oiled.  And the people working there were so nice and happy to have us.  We were told that today is their largest day for volunteers-how fitting that we were here today.  We put on our aprons and got started on our important project of the day...soap.  Before we got started, we were schooled in how and why this project was important.  I love how this place educates their volunteers.  We knew from the start the why of what we were doing.  I think it gave my kids a deeper understanding of why we were here today.  The soap we emptied from lots of small bags (think those hand soap pumps in public restrooms) went into 5 gallon buckets and then into large, 4'x4'x4' plastic drums.  Those drums then are shipped to a variety of places that need soap to keep the areas sanitary.  These could be remote villages that have endured some natural disaster, or areas that are poor and are receiving help regularly.  It could be a hospital in a third word country with little soap available to keep things safe, sanitary and healthy or a place for families to come for soap rations for the same reasons.

So, my kiddos worked hard.  For 1 1/2 hours.  No complaints, whining, arguing or fighting.  Doing something for someone else, somewhere else.  I am beyond proud of them not just for that solid length of time with nothing negative whatsoever, but also for the matter of fact "okay" I got from both of them when I told them what we were going to do today.  We don't (yet) make a habit of volunteering our time like this, but they know that when we can, we do for others. So I am so proud no one complained that they couldn't watch TV, play Minecraft, Wii, or any number of other things they maybe would have liked to do today.

The only reason we stopped working was because some of the workers came around looking for volunteers to take a tour of their Global Village to learn more about the organization. This was a great tour that again, helped explain the why, where and how this organization helps others.  My kids learned a lot today and hopefully feel good about how they spent a couple hours of their day.  I hope to make this an annual event for us, but I don't want us to wait 364 more days until we return.  They both said they'd like to go back and we'll take dad and their 4 year old brother. 

After reflecting on the day and what I hope my kids' hearts will be like when they grow up, I am feeling optimistic and proud of the work my husband and I have done so far.  I suppose we're doing something right... 

Life's most persistent and urgent question is this: What are you doing for others?

~Martin Luther King, Jr.