More on Serving

Joshua 24:14
So honor the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly. (NLT)

Joshua 24:24
We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice. (ASV)

This is a story from my heart, it's about my parents and how they taught me to serve God.

My parents led a serving life. They had no money to speak of. Us kids never knew it though; not really. We were happy and healthy and knew our parents loved us. We knew about Jesus. Of course, going to a Catholic school, we would.

The tuition at my school was more than most parents could afford, so there were major fundraising events held throughout the year. My parents served God in the school kitchen, working at every event I can remember. My mom was the church Women’s Club treasure for 30 years. She was the local St. Vincent DePaul chairperson for many years too, finding food and furniture for those in need. She never learned to drive so Dad spent countless hours driving her where she needed to go always waiting for her in the car, in some not so safe areas, while she met with people that had called for help.

For many years after me and my brother left home the two of them shopped for, assembled, and delivered food baskets every Thanksgiving, and Christmas. We didn’t realize the magnitude of their efforts until Dad started to slow down from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder), and then my husband and brother began to help with deliveries. Serving was something Mom and Dad did together, but it was Mom’s passion. Dad enabled her to serve others by driving for her, thereby also serving God.

Once, a couple of weeks before Christmas, when Dad was in the hospital again, Mom asked me to take her shopping for the food basket supplies. By this time I had begun to realize that Dad was loosing his fight against COPD, that he wasn’t going to get better. I couldn’t figure out why Mom had to make baskets that year. Why not someone else? Did she really expect me to do this, too? I was working full-time and already driving her and my sister (she has Downs Syndrome), to the hospital daily, sometimes going back during my lunch, and then back again to pick them both up in the evening if my brother couldn’t get there. Why did I have to do this, too?

Here’s the thing, Mom hadn’t accepted that Dad was in decline. That his COPD was progressive and would soon take him from us. She waited as long as she could to do that shopping, fully expecting Dad to come home in time to work on the baskets with her. You see, people were depending on her and she was committed to serving them.

I was feeling so stressed, and finally let Mom have it. In the car at the grocery store I scolded her for putting more on me, especially at that time. As if I were more important than those food baskets, more important than those people she was serving, more important than the work they had done together, serving God. In retrospect, I am so ashamed of my behavior that day and beg His forgiveness.

Thankfully, at this time in my life I am beginning to understand God’s purpose for me. By reading His Word and daily prayer, I’m learning more each day about His plan for my life. I’ve come to realize that there is nothing more important than serving Him and building my relationship with Him. Here's the tough part, I have only to be faithful that He will care for everything else. This is something my parents must have known, in their 51 years together, as they worked together to serve Him.

I believe something as small as a sincere smile to a stranger is, in some way, serving the Lord. Try it; it’s a fine place to start.