Service

It has been project after project on this house that we've bought. The front mow strip, the small section between the road and sidewalk, was supposed to be a "quick" project, but it evolved into something huge. Tree removal, gravel removal (which I found when tilling it with what was supposed to be final step before installing the sprinkler, but ended up being 20 man hours of removing by hand), mulch, and then the sprinklers.

On Thursday, the sun had set and it was beginning to rain. I was out finishing a sprinkler line in the front of our house. I was excited that the end was in site. My neighbor saw me and came over to see what I was doing so late.  I was putting the final pieces together, but my fingers were hurting. My leather gloves had holes in them from all of the previous projects and I wasn't sure if my fingers could handle the remaining fittings. He then asked what he could do to help. I let him help me finish up. It taught me a lot that I should be looking for those opportunities to serve other people, to just jump in and get to work.

Whether or not you are a religious person service should be a part of your life. I just finished watching a video about how a group of men helped a woman with MS into bed at night . They have been doing it for 7 years. What I love about this video is that the men were honest about their feelings of providing service to this woman. To some it looked like it would be a burden, but I love how providing the service and examples of others helped to change their attitude. This video is 9 minutes long, watch it. It is worth it.

I may not always be in the right mind to be of service to others, but when I do, I know that I am happier because I know I've helped make another burden's burden lighter.