In the month of December I participate in a campaign called #LightTheWorld and devote the month to serving others. Over the course of the month, I’ll be sharing various ways I choose to serve, not to boast, but to bring a little joy to you, and perhaps even inspire you to reach out to those around you.
You’ll notice that the ways I serve are small. That’s intentional. I applaud those who start foundations and run charitable organizations, who travel to distant lands to provide medical care or teach valuable skills; but that’s not me. At least not right now. Who knows what the future may hold?
Two things I know to the very depths of my soul: 1) serving others is one of the most effective ways to nourish souls, ours and others’, and 2) “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” I believe that the cumulative impact of innumerable small acts of love and service happening every moment around the world is even greater than the impact of the large, charitable organizations. As much as I admire The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation type of organizations in the world (which is a lot) and am grateful for all the good they do, I don’t believe their influence even comes close to the combined impact of parents who lovingly kiss their children’s foreheads as they put them to bed each night, and of first responders who daily give the hours of their lives for the well-being of others, and of a young person giving up their seat on the subway to an elderly person, and of one who volunteers to walk a dog at a local animal shelter, and the one who takes in a meal to a sick neighbor. The small acts may seem like only drops in the bucket toward making this world a kinder, brighter place, but drops fill buckets – and they can reach into smaller places.
Each week has a slightly different focus: lighting the world, your community, your family, your faith. Week 1’s theme is Light the World and kicks off tomorrow, December 1, 2018 with a worldwide day of service. I invite you to find a way to serve, no matter how small: make a charitable donation, learn about problems facing another country and consider how you might help, give a smile to a stranger. You get the idea. Don’t let not having a plan keep you from serving in spontaneous ways that pop up in your day.
Go here for more info on the #LightTheWorld campaign. There’s even a calendar here you can print if you’d like ideas of how to serve. I’d love to hear about how you’re serving.
Let’s use this month of December in which we celebrate the birth of the Light of the World to follow His example and #LightTheWorld.