I am not a servant. Not at all. I’m more than happy to help if asked, but I am not one of those people who look at your life and just KNOW what to do to help you. I know what to SAY that might give you some wisdom, but physical help? Not so much. On the other hand, I never think to ASK for help either. I’m a New England girl where we just sort of suck it up and do what needs to be done.
But the reality is, that sometimes in our lives we JUST NEED SOME HELP!
So as I contemplate this in prayer and ask the Lord to give me eyes to see (and willing hands to serve), pray with me that I could be His hands of love to other women this week. It is not a strength, but that doesn’t mean I can just sit in my weakness and wallow. My heart is to be like Jesus – and that means in EVERY WAY.
I’d love to hear ways YOU are a physical blessing to other women. Let YOUR experience be MY training ground! How are YOU God’s hands of love to others?
Linking to any number of these lovely blogs:
(Image courtesy of worradmu/FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
Well, I suppose it depends on the situation and how much time I have! We can take meals to people, help someone clean their house or weed their garden, give someone a ride somewhere, meet a friend for lunch who is struggling with something, make a phone call and give a listening ear.
I think it’s good to let God move us beyond our comfort zone, although it’s hard to stretch out of it sometimes! thanks for hosting today and bless you this week, my friend!
Great suggestions!! Thanks for your input and for joining up with me. Loving your blog!
Some ways I have served: Take meals, help others learn to cook/make freezer meals, babysit, paint, pack (do a lot of this with a church with 1/2 seminary students), unpack, help friends move (even across country), make food for a wedding (just made 10 cheesecakes), have someone over who is grieving, breakfast out to talk with a friend who is struggling, text/call to check in with a friend and give a word of encouragement, clean, rides somewhere, loan a vehicle, go through a book together with a grieving mom, write a letter to a long-distance friend (a lost art these days).
Wow, Laura, YOU ARE AMAZING!! Thanks for sharing your very obvious servant heart. Lots for me to learn from!
When I was younger I used to visit and do a little shopping for the elderly shut in women of our church. They loved seeing all my babies grow up! I babysat for other mothers, made meals for families with ill loved ones, and of course prayed for people. Now I’m older and practically a shut in myself what with my own and Bethany’s disabilities making it hard to get out and about.
Sylvia, so much of what we can do really has to do with our season in life and the constraints on us, doesn’t it! And I can see how delighted those women would be to have little ones around – what an encouragement! Thanks for sharing, dear!
Kate, you are being helping hands and being a blessing just by posting this website!
Esther Joy, you are such a sweetie! Thank you for your kind and loving words. They mean a great deal to me.
My dad was one of those true servant spirits who just saw what needed to be done behind the scenes and did it. I’m like what you describe…tell me what to do and I’ll be more than glad to do it, but I’m not good at figuring it out myself! I’m working on it, though!
I have to say though, Kate, that your words at BAHM (about our writing audience) were SO helpful and encouraging to me today! Don’t discount the importance of God using your words to help others. You have no idea how I needed to hear those very words today!
Jen, you are such a darling friend! Thank you for encouraging me. But, like you, I’m working on being His helping hands in ways that might not come so naturally to me…because I want to be more like Jesus in EVERY way!
Blessings to you, dear!
Thank you for hosting. I have always considered that the best way I can serve others is to be honest, and to be willing to admit that “I don’t know how to do this,” “I messed up with this,” or some other such shocking admission so that people don’t feel like they’re the only weird person on the planet who thinks or acts a certain way. My primary means of doing this is through my writing — lifestyle, educational, fine art, and a significant number of e-mail correspondents.
My post this week is a three-parter, numbers 54, 55, and 56, which have to do with the sticky situation of teaching your homeschooled child to write. In 20 years of homeschooling, I have found a LOT of people with ZERO confidence in doing this, and they hide behind grammar books which 1) the kids hate and 2) don’t teach a person how to write.
Homeschooled parents — you are smarter and savvier than you think, and you can do so much more than you think you can.
Hi Carolyn! Welcome and thanks for sharing your willingness to be vulnerable. You are so right that being honest breaks barriers between people and opens us all up for deeper opportunities for love.
I will be checking out your 3 part post. I confess that after graduating 5 of my 8 children in over 23 years of homeschooling, I STILL don’t know how to teach them to write (but we don’t do grammar books either) – we just do a lot of it! 😀
Thanks for coming by and I’ll get back to you soon!
Kate! I love that you are so honest about it. I think we all would want to be natural servants to others. I think you are serving just by bringing biblical content to the web and teaching the younger women with a gentle spirit 🙂 I like to go to others homes and help clean by wiping in the kitchen, vacuuming, or helping with children. It is kind of selfish actually; I love to clean and I love children :0 Blessings! Hope to see you at the Wednesday’s link-up later tonight!!
Jacqueline, talk about honest! 😀 I think we all find it easy to serve in ways that fit with our giftedness, and God certainly honors and blesses that!! And thanks for hosting your link-up week after week! It is always a joy to stop by and catch up on your blog posts, if I’ve missed any!! Blessings sweetie!
I don’t know why it’s so hard to accept the help of others. I think, as women, we are used to being the care-ers. Being on the receiving end of that takes some practice and makes us uncomfortable. But God tells us we need each other and I know this is true. My faith sisters have often jumped in to help me out when I am sick or someone in the family has had surgery. And I so appreciate those gifts. Good thoughts here, friend!