Defining Service

 

I have  a problem with “Service”. Not your usual problem, but one that grates on my nerves most of the time when I hear people referring to “doing service”.

This probably wont surprise most but I am going to tell it like I see it and it may not be an opinion that most agree with. 

Seems like these days when people discuss service it is accompanied by the terms “hours” or “points”. Meaning they seem to talk about it only in reference to putting a tangible value on it in hopes of attaining something.  Our society has tried to encourage our youth to perform service by making it a part of their curriculum or by offering awards and honors for how many hours of service you are to perform.  Even the childrens sunday school sends home papers for them to document their “service hours”.  The problem is that when service is taught with a reward once the reward is gone, so too are the acts of service if they were rendered in the spirit of earning the award.  There is no longer any prize at the end because the children have not learned that the service rendered is the prize and no other prize should be given or expected.

Matt and I have tried to raise our children with service as an every day part of their lives. From serving each other and their parents, to serving others in organized and un-organized opportunities.  We don’t count acts of service or hours of service performed.  It is so ingratiated in their lives that to sit and document it would be difficult.  Then you get in to defining service.  For some awards only certain acts of service count.  For example one award Seri had the opportunity to earn a few years ago said that babysitting your siblings wasn’t service it was your job.  Are you kidding me?  She didn’t decide to have these children, her parents did. So when she offers or accepts to watch them without pay, that is indeed offering a huge service to me and her father.

Most times my children and I shy away from these awards, but sometimes you just can’t. Our society doesn’t recognize service as a part of daily life, they want it documented.  For church and scholarships, no matter how much it bothers me, I find I have to document service for the childrens sake.  And oh, how this bothers me…..

One day while surfing the net, I cam across an add for Save The Children and Warm Up America.  I called for Seri and we both agreed that this was a way in which we wanted to serve and would have fun doing it.

A couple of days later as we were sewing the infant hats Seri mentioned that it could count as a project for her Young Womans award which defines a service project as something you have spent at least 10 hours working on.  So much for fun service, now it was a “project”. But, like I said some times you just have to do it. She set it up so that all the young women could participate, got donated yarn and needles so that no one had to purchase anything.  Offered crochet and knit classes at our home for those who wanted to participate and didn’t know how.  Let everyone know.  She then set a goal of sending a hundred hats.

The young womans night was fun. We all sat around crocheting and teaching others how to, talking and laughing. At the end each young woman had made a hat.  We received two more from one girl but that is where it ended. None of them wanted to do anymore.

We announced it in church and again provided instructions and all the supplies, made it as easy as possible for people to serve and…..    out of our whole church we received 7 from two ladies.

now here is where I rant, so if you don’t want to hear you can skip the writing and look at the pictures.

So now I get to explain to my daughter that her family will help her finish the hundred. So we all get busy. Mom, Michael, Dad, Seri and Nana. We watch great movies while sewing furiously, we laugh, talk and bond over these crazy little infant hats.  Tag each with a handwritten tag of love for the newborn who will receive the hat and pack them up to go.  It would have been a great experience if it had never been placed in the “project” category in the first place.  If it had been just us working and serving for the sake of helping those less fortunate.  But now I have to face the disappointment in my daughter when she realizes that others are too busy, don’t want to, or just don’t do it because their is no tangible award for them and they don’t have to.

It is just so sad to me.  Even in the church we preach service, but there are sometimes (actually, a lot of times) when I feel that is only portrayed as helping someone move or delivering meals.  Both of which are service, but I think our definition narrows right about there.

Our family chooses to do a lot of work for Northwest Harvest.  We always offer for others to come serve with us.  We are usually taken up on our offer by other Mormon, Homeschooled families. Right there that tells me that we are in like minded and good company.  Everyone else is too busy.  yeah, we are all too busy to offer service unless there is a reward….  Sorry, I am getting cynical again……

Working at NH is so fun though!!  It doesn’t even really feel like service.  One of the times we went they bagged soup and boxed it. The next time we boxed apples and when those were done we did oats which is one of my favorite things to do.    The kids have such a blast.  they don’t even realize they are helping other people half the time.

Last week they were doing a huge food drive at a local business and were asking for volunteers, so of course the kids and I signed up.

Again we offered for others to join us. 

With all the kids in tow we went and carried signs around the shopping area collecting monetary and canned food donations.  We met some great people, including a drunk, old guy who couldn’t stop thanking Seri and telling her how wonderful she was, it was kind of awkward and funny all at the same time.

He did offer a good suggestion that I think we will take him up on.  he mentioned that it was great to see the kids helping but that he was disappointed that they wouldn’t get to see the direct results of their service.  He said I should take them down to the Cherry street food bank and if nothing else just park across the street and let the kids watch the people that are served by their actions.  i know that food bank has a sandwich brigade we can work at, think I’ll go and sign us up now.