Thoughtful About . . . Serving Others

At the beginning of August, I blogged about the trip we took to Texas and how it opened the door for us to start teaching our kids about volunteering and helping others wherever they see a need. Well, when we got home we talked to our church about starting a monthly day of service in our area, and now we're happy to see that coming to fruition.

We're going to start small, with trash pick-up at a local park. Also planned are things like caroling at the local assisted living facilities in December and helping at the food pantry in November. All things we can bring the kids along for, and hopefully brighten a few days.

To make it all official, my hubby dearest is making t-shirts for the occasion, and so we started trolling the web for some great quotes on helping others. We ended up with this one:

Quote, obviously, from Einstein. Design by Roseanna. Blinding t-shirt color that I didn't quite capture here chosen by my hubby ;-)

But we found so many great quotes, that I just wanted to share the ones that most struck me. My favorite was the MLK one, but it was just too long:

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.... You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. ” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

And some other great ones . . .

"Service is the rent we pay for being." ~ Marian Wright Edelman

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~ Anne Frank

“Do all the good you can, and make as little fuss about it as possible.” ~ Dickens

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~ Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” ~ Dickens

“Many small people, in many small places, do many small things, that can alter the face of the world.” ~ Anonymous

“To do more for the world than the world does for you - that is success.” ~ Henry Ford

Personally, I think these are some great things to be keeping in mind as I prepare for the ACFW conference next week. This year, my prayer for the conference is that I might be a blessing. I don't know how better to start on that goal than to put aside thoughts of me. And think of you instead.