3/14/16
Day 2:
Today we volunteered with The Good Samaritan Center, primarily aiding to sort through clothing donations and de-weeding their future garden area. They shared a lot of information with us about their upcoming programs, including gardening and cooking courses and their current endeavors such as mock interviews, their clothing closet, and their food pantry. We also did some pretty hard core paint scraping at a vacant building in the center's possession awaiting rental/ repurpose.
The clothing sorting was very methodical. The center didn't put any clothing out on their sale floor that had holes, signs of wear, or that was outdated. Yet, nothing was ever wasted. Most of the clothing was sent to the sales floor, all of the great finds were saved for their re-store, and the rest was sold in bulk for repairs and repurpose.
Honestly, scraping the paint was probably the hardest service work I had ever done. Most of us walked away with minor sunburns. Meanwhile, my inner monologue was rolling: "Man, you certainly know how to spend your spring break." "Yeah, it's tough, but I've done it before, and I'll do it again."
So why do we serve?
A member of our team shared a great story in reflection tonight that somehow related to service for me.
She really loves sports. I mean, the kind of love that radiates off of her as she says the word. One of the hardest times in her athletic career was tearing her ACL and not being able to play anymore. So difficult that, even having attended ever one of her teammates games, she now felt discouraged.
After a while, her dad convinced her to come around, and so she did. After arriving, she was moved to find that all of her previous teammates were on the field wearing arm bands with her team name on them. She said it moved her because it made her feel like she was out there, it didn't matter that her name was there on their arms.
I think that's what is important about service. Giving it your all in everything you do, including the capacity to which you pour into others. We are all human and deserving of being loved on now and again and admired for our strengths, because we all have low points and hardships.
Giving back is a way of surrendering a part of yourself in order to serve a greater change, a ripple effect.
Today was hard. It didn't immediately feel like much more than a tiresome day. But Friday, when we paint that building, it will be available to rent out to local business owners (btw: local businesses are crucial to increasing revenue in areas all over like South Jackson), bring back another piece of the Mississippi pride that once filled the area.
I hope one day I will come back and see the progress that has been made because of small changes that have rippled into tidal waves. There is definitely a reward and a means of being moved in seeing those invisible arm bands signaling your part in this place, because you belong to this global team.
I think that's part of why we serve. We also serve to help enable others to serve themselves and then pass it on. We are made up of so many systems. I hope that one day everyone will wear the arm bands of one another and remember how much more fulfilling it is to give than receive. In truth, the greatest gifts come from service.
I used to love the quote that said something about the true gift of service lying in the opportunities we take to serve those that have nothing to offer us in return. I think I disagree with this statement. Everyone I have ever served or served with has always had several things to offer me: a fresh perspective, knowledge of the things they know better than me because they have lived through it, and they have taught me to be empathetic, an advocate, and HAPPY above all obstacles.
Every person I have served, served with, or organization I have served for has equipped me with the tools I consciously take to my next act of service with intentions of striving to improve upon them. These actions aid in changing the voice of the world, and it is powerful to move in these shapes and forms that service has challenged me to embody in order to empower and immerse myself in this gift of giving.
There are so many things I love about this trip already. The people I have been blessed to serve with have made it even more worth while. The laughs and jokes and memories are imperishable in my heart and mind, and the service always feels the same: A constant motion toward invincible love and equality.
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