volunteer

Share Goodness

/ mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Whenever you can, share the goodness of life.  Make eye contact and smile at other people, hold a door open, help someone carry things, be patient with others, listen instead of talking and support those in need without expectation of something in return.  When we choose to live in community with one another we can see the goodness of the Lord in life.  It is striving to get back to the basics of interacting with each other in a simple and kind manner.  It is a choice, we are not victims of our environment or our surroundings unless we choose to be.  If you don’t know how or where to start, I would recommend getting out into nature and be present in God’s creation.  Nothing soothes my soul better than being outdoors in the amazing world God created.  May God’s peace and the wonder of creation be with you.

DSC01048 publish

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Galatians 6:9

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 while traveling in northern Colorado)

It Matters – Mission Trip “Serve Wherever You Are”

/ mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It is Thursday of Mission trip week and we are living full throttle for Christ!  The message for today can be summed up quite simply…do whatever you can, whenever you can, wherever you are.  Your act of service or kindness does matter, even if you don’t have direct interaction with the receiver of your action.  We should strive to include acts of service and kindness in our lives daily.  If you don’t feel like this is part of your life right now, start small.  Change one thing in your routine that is not about you.  Start out once a week or whatever you can do.

My service group spent 4 hours today loading a 53′ semi trailer full of medical supplies including beds for transit that will be sent overseas for people with little or no medical facilities so they can get the medical attention they need.  The organization that coordinates this effort is run by 20 full-time staff and 15,000 volunteers.  The vast majority of the volunteers will never encounter the individuals who benefit from the supplies being available but that doesn’t lessen the impact of their work…it is still necessary.  This activity was not on our schedule this week originally but we were asked to do this instead of our planned event after a different group was unable to make it and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of the week.

Whatever you are able to do for others is important and it does make a difference…believe it and do something whenever you can…wherever you are.

Peace.

Mission Trip Day 7 – Meet A Need

/ mcalcagno / Leave a comment

If you read about or see people working in ministry in some way and wonder “what can I do?”…there are several different types of organizations all over the world that work to help others.  Every city has multiple organizations that work towards helping the hungry or homeless or those with addictions or tutoring for students, etc.  The key to figuring out what to do is ask God to help you identify or guide you to the gifts/talents he has blessed you with.

We can never forget that God created each and everyone of us with certian gifts and if we are paying attention we can learn what those gifts are and use them to help others in some way.  Even if you have never done anything before or you think “well I don’t have anything to offer.” It is just not true because God did provide you gifts to use in this world that will help others and the only way to know exactly what those are is to try new things and see how they fit who you are.

So go ahead…think about the things you enjoying doing and look for an organization that needs volunteers in that speciality.

The most important lessoned I have learned this week is this…..I have been blessed by God and all he needs me to do is go out and try to Meet A Need in our world based on the gifts he gave me!

How great is our God?!