Let's be
completely candid...There are some days when volunteering is an incredibly
gratifying experience. You are able to
connect a person in need with programs which can assist them in making better
life choices, provide access to much needed funds, or introduce them to a
caring body of believers who are eager to make them feel welcome. Days like that make it all worth.
But let's unpack
that last statement. Days like that do
come. Phone conversations occur in which
you really feel like this person is someone you can help. But what about the phrase making "it
all worthwhile". This is where we talk
about the "it". "It" is the rest of the stuff you experience when you
work with individuals who possibly want
you to fix
their problems while apparently
not being independently proactive, who might have a sense of entitlement or are, in
fact, lying to you.
Long before Love INC
began serving the Anchorage
community our churches experienced first hand some of both. Our church isn't large, but our name starts
with the letter A. We received numerous
calls from people working their way through the phone book. My husband, the pastor, frequently spent
hours of his day checking out a story only to find the person who had attempted
to pull at his heartstrings, was really pulling his leg. The person in question walked away spewing
their anger that they did not get what they desired - leaving my husband late
for dinner, verbally assaulted and with a huge chunk taken from a day filled
with demanding pastoral duties. I grew
up in a pastor's home, and the stories were very much the same.
What do you do on
those days? What do you do with those
who lie or the people who want the handout without being willing to
take the
hand? What do you do when the need is
greater than the provision? When people
are not willing to do what needs to be done to improve their lives? We
know this does happen. You reach out and get your hand get smacked,
you are criticized for not doing more, the person perceives your help
as
something you owe them and you are barely acknowledged for your effort
and
concern. There is very little comfort
then, very little encouragement to keep going.
Fortunately, you
do not volunteer for Love in the name of charity or Love in the name of feeling
good about yourself. If that were the
case, it just wouldn't happen for very long, would it? Yes, you are of a charitable disposition, but
that desire to give aide, in and of itself, would quickly dry up on those
discouraging days. What keeps you coming
back certainly isn't the warm fuzzies you get when the person you are taking a
basket to isn't even home or barely glances at you as they take the basket and closes
the door with only a mumbled thanks.
What keeps you
coming back is the gentle words from Matthew 25:40 "I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least
of these brothers of mine, you
did for me."(NIV) The organization you
volunteer for is Love In the Name of Christ. No matter what the reception over the phone, at
the door or even the voices in your own head when you are tired and
discouraged, the response of the Father is one of approval and pleasure for
your sacrifice of love in His name.
Thank you for giving of yourself...on the good days and the bad.
Blessings,
Darlene Wiesinger
