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GIVING YOUR TIME

 

As Thanksgiving is coming up, so many of us focus on how to be more thankful (which is awesome), but not as often do we put GIVING at the forefront during the month of November.

 

I wanted to take some time to do a series on how we can focus on giving as a way to show our gratitude to others. We are going to be talking about was to give your time, give your money and give your attention. My goal is to help you get in the right mindset as we move towards Thanksgiving and then Christmas. This will be a good exercise to help get our eyes off our own belly buttons and set them on others.

 

GIVING OF TIME

 

A lot of times when we think of tithing, we automatically think financially. But someone wise (probably Anon) said “Show me your calendar and I’ll show you what’s really important in your life”.

Growing up as a girl scout, cookie season consisted of my parents taking the order form to their offices for sales and then my mom writing a check to meet the minimum sales goal my troop set for us.

 

It got the job done, but it robbed us of the experience.

 

I think that is kinda how God feels when we have a charity or cause that we feel really called to support, but only give financially and don’t give any of our time.

 

Don’t get me wrong, there are a couple of charities that we support that I can’t give my time to at this point in life. Maybe you can’t take a trip to Africa to dig wells. Or head to Nepal to spread the good news. Totally fine! But I bet there is a cause you feel called to support right here at home that you might be able to make time for.

 

I feel mostly confident that you have something unique about your story that would make you a HUGE asset when you volunteer. It could be as small as you enjoying being around the elderly, or even that you are just really, ridiculously organized. There are volunteer needs for someone just like you!

Just like with the girl scout cookie sales, we aren’t really doing it right if we just mail in a check. Financial giving is needed (and we will talk about that!) but God also calls us to get our hands dirty (mostly figurative) and give up a part of our calendar in order to serve others.

 

If your calendar is like mine, it consists of work, time with family & friends and probably more Hallmark movies than is needed. Sometimes it feels like I am too busy to do anything other than the things that I have deemed most important, but amazingly, when I make volunteering a priority, my calendar suddenly has room. 

 

So block off a Saturday this morning and check out one of the charities you support to see what volunteer opportunities they have.

 

If you don’t have a cause that you are currently supporting try one of these ideas!

 

• Local Food Bank

• Nursing Home

• Homeless Shelter

• Item Sorting at a Donation Center

• Walk Dogs at the Animal Shelter

 

If you haven’t made a habit of volunteering regularly, I totally get that it can be a bit intimidating at first. But once you find something that is a good fit for you, and a cause that you truly believe in, it becomes less scary and more wonderful.

 

I think it is so cool that God invites us to be a part of all the cool things he is doing. And let’s be real, the world could really use an army of people stepping out to volunteer and give their time to good things.

 

Your skills and past experiences are perfectly designed to make a big impact somewhere. All you have to do is step out and start serving!

 

I want to encourage you to really take a step in increasing the amount of time you spend doing things for others this season. And I can’t WAIT to hear about all the ways that you impact your community through your volunteering!

 

Please let me know where you are giving up your time this season in the comments below!

 

Keep up with the other posts in this series when we talk about giving your money and giving your attention!