Tomorrow as many of us celebrate the holiday with family and friends we should take time to reflect on the blessings we have received this past year. And as we approach the holiday season consider taking a few hours to give back to your community. Trust me, you will come back with a better appreciation of the blessings we have all been bestowed. One of the most fulfilling experiences you will ever encounter is taking time to give back to your community. One such incident was at a running event my husband and I volunteered to work at last March. While this was a first time for us to work this particular event, we were not strangers to volunteering. We were assigned to man the water station for the 5K out and back race in addition to the last water station for the 15K portion of the race. The 5K runners came fast and furious and it was as if we were handing out, pouring, picking up cups left and right. Then we had a lull until the 15K runners made their way to the finish. Within 2 hours of the start of the race, most of the 15K runners were headed to the finish line. Not too sure how many more runners there were left, a gentleman who had worked this race before insisted that we start to pack things up. For some reason I felt that this was premature and I told my husband that I wanted to stick around just a little longer to make for certain this was it. We were told to stay until 11 am and since it was only 10:40, we felt obligated to stay since we had elected to volunteer for the WHOLE race, not just until the first runners came through. Thankfully, we did. In the distance we could see a young lady running as fast as her legs could move at this point in the run. She was slowly approaching the water station less than a mile from the finish line. Ever so diligently she kept running HER race. She so graciously thanked us for the opportunity to finish even though she knew she was the last one to come in. She could have easily thrown in the towel and silently dropped out, but she didn't. She persevered and hung in there until she reached the finish line well over 2 hours after the first runners came through. We met up with her after the race and she was crying tears of joy at her own victory. She was so thrilled that she FINISHED. Not that she had placed, not that she won a trophy or a medal, but that she had FINISHED. You could see how proud she was that she had accomplished a goal. In that one moment, I realized what volunteering is all about. It isn’t about us giving back; it’s about others giving back to us. It’s about allowing someone else to reach a goal. It's about cheering others past the point of wanting to give up so that they are able to live their dreams now and not waiting until everything is just right to live it. I wish you all a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving! Have you or your family ever volunteered? How do you feel when you are helping others? Do you feel you get just as much from the volunteering as those receiving the help? What blessing are you most thankful for? |
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