Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, friend. Welcome to Perspectives into Practice, a place where life's stories meet practical wisdom. Together, we'll explore how faith filled perspectives can transform the way we live, love, and grow. So grab a seat, settle in, and join us on this journey to turn inspiration into action. Let's dive in.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: Hey, friends, have you ever felt like serving was more of an obligation than a joy? Well, maybe you've signed up to help, but deep down you felt that it was draining and resentful. But today we are going to talk about how to find real joy in serving others. I'm so excited to have Angela here with us again today. Not only has she found a way to serve with joy, but she also inspires others to do the same. Welcome back, Angela.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, my goodness. So I so enjoyed our talk last week when we talked about our purpose in serving others. And so this week we get to talk about the joy in serving others. And before we jump in, I want to ask you because I do love fun facts and every episode does have a new fun fact. And so even though you're back again, I still get to ask. So what is your fun fact for this week?
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Ah, my fun fact that everyone loves to hear about me is that I own a 1967 Ford Mustang. It was my very first car that I got when I was 17 years old. And yes, I still have it and still drive it.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: And she is a beautiful. She is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I do love that. I remember when you first, when maybe I saw it in your driveway or I can't remember if you pulled up, but I was, I was like, what? Hold the phone.
Beautiful. Oh, thank you.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: I haven't. I have a teenage driver who's trying to get her opportunity to drive that thing.
[00:02:12] Speaker A: Oh, man.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Maybe once she's got her license, maybe, but not quite yet.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Yeah, when you're there and you can grab the wheel or stop on the brake if you need too. Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow. All right. So as we talk about the joy in serving others, can you think of a moment in your life when serving someone else changed you more than you expected?
[00:02:34] Speaker B: I think serving has always been such a big part of who I am and what we do that I guess I don't think about it very much. But I think when you get into the habit of doing things and they become second nature and you don't think about them, and when somebody else finds the value in that and is very impressed or moved by that and they're overcome by that, I'm just like but this is just normal for us. Yeah, I guess that's when you have to stop and re realize what you're doing and the impact that it's having. Because most of the time I don't think about it. It's just part of who we are and what we do.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Even though it is part of what you do. And it's just like serving comes so naturally to you. What does it feel like when you do go into it and you're like, I really don't want to be here today. What does that look like?
[00:03:29] Speaker B: And yes, I mean, let me tell you, there's those days where you're not feeling well, you've had a bad day. I remember one time I was was taking out the trash and it was heavy that day and all my friends were standing around visiting and catching up and they barely just waved at me as I was dragging the trash bags. And it was just like, wow, this is hard.
And you know, the idea is that I'm serving them. But boy, I didn't feel like I was very loved or that they were loving me or I was loving them because in that moment I was resentful and I was frustrated. But at the same time I had to get my head right. Let's be honest, we've all had. I may be a grown woman, but I still act and sometimes feel like I'm 8 years old. Like, that's not fair. And that's how I felt in the moment. That wasn't fair. Why doesn't anyone help me? And after I got some sleep, got some food, boiled it on down and said, it's not about them. Yeah, it's about me. It's about my heart. This is what God called me to. It's not about their reaction, it's about my reaction. And sometimes we serve when it's awesome and it's fun. How many people like love serving Thanksgiving meal, like at the Salvation army on Thanksgiving Day, right?
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: That is so awesome. Who goes there on like a Tuesday morning in the middle of January? Nobody.
[00:04:59] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: So we do it when it's fun and we do it when it's not so fun. And I think those are the days that it's like hard to put on our big girl pants and go, okay, I signed up for it. But that's like work, right? Yeah, work is a four letter word. Serving usually is as well. So it means we have to dig down deep, find the grit, get our attitudes in check and do the hard stuff because we know it's good for us. And it's good for other people, too.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, and that's. I feel like that's something that all of us can relate to, is that serving isn't always easy, but there is joy in it. So how do we find joy in serving? How do we. I know that if, even if the Lord has told us that, yes, we are to serve others, we don't always go into it with joy. So how do we find that joy?
[00:05:53] Speaker B: Well, it's a very worldly answer. But I'm going to tell you the truth. You surround yourself with good company, you find good people to serve with. It makes all the difference in the world. When you have a sister in Christ that'll come alongside you and direct a homeschool co op, things go a lot easier.
My husband and I, we will serve. So. And so we have chosen not to do children's ministry. He's been like, seriously, I don't want to do children's ministry. Okay, now that's fine. What will he serve in? He will open up doors and greet. So guess what? I will go with my best friend and I will open up doors to the church and say, I'm so glad you guys are here.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Because I want to be with him and he will serve more frequently if I am there with him as well.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Also, you know, serving with my kids, we had talked about previously that, you know, getting your family on board, whether it's your mom or your sister or your kiddos, the people that you love most, if you can involve them, number one, they're going to lean on you, and you're going to lean on them. You're going to be in good company. You're going to enjoy each other's presence, and hopefully it's just encouraging to everyone to be there with someone that you enjoy and work with people that appreciate you. We can't always choose that. But at the same time, let's just be honest, if you are in a community that respects you and will say, thank you very much for your service, guess what? They'll show up next week. So appreciate the people that you're serving with and do the same for them. It goes.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: Absolutely. It does. Yes. So we, I feel like the, there's, you know, the, the joy of the Lord is our strength. So we know this. So how does that, how do we live that out practically? That the joy of the Lord is our strength. So we have this joy that the Lord has given us and we want to serve and we want to be happy about it. But happiness and joy are not the same.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: Right, Right. Because happiness is about me. Happiness is what I want. And happiness is sitting down at the end of the day and getting my cake after a nice big meal. And I'm very happy. Right. And everyone gives me a place. Applause. But that's not the way it goes. And so finding the joy is digging down deep and appreciating the small things. Right. It's appreciating the. The birds when you're working outside. It's. It's the.
Gosh, it's the small things in life to realize that. Realize that you have strength in your body to do those things. And realizing, you know, especially like, if you're serving the elderly, they're not able to do those things right now. But in this season in your life, you have the strength when you're taking care of the little children. Do you remember at one point, we were the little ones and someone was taking care of us. And now God has granted us enough wisdom and strength that we are now in those roles. Right?
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Yes. Yes.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Just finding that what we have is fleeting. It's not going to be forever finding that we have enough. God has blessed us to be able to give to the Salvation army angel tree or to some of the children who are needing gifts. We are so blessed to be able to do that for someone. And I think when we stop for three seconds and again, think outside of ourselves and realize it's not about us, it's about making the world a better place to making sure that that joy that gets spread around to other people.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Yeah. It's a mindset. Mindset, Mindset shift. There we go. Almost said a potty word.
That helps us to find that joy in serving. Because if we go into. And that's like, the biggest thing we talk about on this podcast is a change in perspective. Because just like what you said, if you are serving others and they say, hey, let's go outside, and you're like, I don't want to go outside because I was comfortable inside. And you shift your perspection perspective. Thank you. You shift your perspective.
Words are hard, man. Words are hard. You're shifting that and going, wow, thank you, Lord, for beautiful weather. Thank you, Lord, for the birds singing. Thank you, Lord, for those that I get to serve. And that joy, I feel like, is able to bubble up when we have that mindset shift and we're looking toward God for others and not a reflection of who we are and what we look like serving.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: It's too easy to get on a negative train track. I Feel like. Because once you get down that path, everything's negative, everything's terrible. And we kind of call them the Eeyores, you know, around Woe is Me or the Ross.
[00:10:57] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: Nothing's good after that. Yeah. You know, whereas if you're. You're grateful for the sunshine and the fact that you're. Your muscles are working for the day, they might be sore tomorrow, but my goodness, I mean, you have that skill today that God has gifted you in choosing to see the silver lining. I guess like you said, it's a mind shift. It's a choice. We can choose joy or we can choose to nitpick and make. Bring out our own unhappiness.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And. And I feel like we've said it before here, but if you say that you can't do something, you're absolutely right.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:35] Speaker A: If you say this isn't going to work, you're right, because you have to change that mindset. You know what? This might not work, but let's try it anyway and then be surprised. And maybe it might not look exactly what you expected it to look like, but you gave it a shot and you did it. And that. That is where.
Where things change. That's where. You know, that's it. Period. That's where things change.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Agreed.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: So how can. How would you say. How can someone move from serving out of obligation to serving out of love? Because I feel like that is where joy comes from as well, is not having that perspective again of, I have to do this, but I get to do this.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: Well, if the mindset, once you have again, we have to take all thoughts captive. Yes. And make them. Command them to Christ and make sure that they are submitting to him. So if the mindset isn't helping, what I would do is I would hold off. You know, we. God does. He wants a joyful giver. That's in our tithe as well as with our time. And so if we're not going to be joyful with our time, stop, rest, recoup, reset. Find something that does bring you joy. Maybe it's. Maybe it's the neighbor down the street.
Start there. Maybe it is. Maybe you're an animal lover. Okay. I do feel like there is some. Some love that God wants us to share with our animal friends. So maybe start there. Maybe by walking your friend's dog. Maybe by serving in an animal shelter.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: Find what's gonna bring you joy and go from there. I. I don't think God doesn't want our obligation like you said.
But I do think he. He did put us here with different gifts. Not everyone's lining up at the animal shelter. There's other people that are at the homeless shelter here. People have a heart for the homeless shelter. So if that's you, listen to the call that God has put on your heart and find ways. Maybe you can't be there on a daily basis. Maybe you can be a driver for a lot of the shelters. They don't have a place to sleep there. They have to actually commute them to different churches and places. So maybe you help drive them in the evenings. And again, maybe that means for like all those introverts. I hear a lot of the introverts who are like, well, I just don't like talking to people. Great. I'm sure that there was plenty of forms to fill out. Driving doesn't take a ton of conversation, but just enough that you could say, hello, how are you? And we can all do that. I think when we think about ourselves and about my happiness, I don't want to do that. Well, you know what? It's not about me. God did not put me on this world to put me in front of the couch and make sure that I had all my popcorn and popped and I'm happy as I can be.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:36] Speaker B: He put me here to help other people. So find the people that you're going to find the most joy assisting.
[00:14:44] Speaker A: Yeah. And that also, like, the more you do it, the stronger you're working. Like, you're talking about muscles, the stronger those muscles are going to get in serving. And I feel like it's going to get easier and more joyful through it because you're going to find that rhythm. You're going to find out where you really want to, to, to be serving and who you want to serve. And if you're serving out of love, no matter what it is that you're doing, God is going to appreciate that much more than serving out of obligation and feeling like, well, I gotta be here today. No gotta. You get a. Yeah, exactly. You get to be here.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: And it also opens up more doors for opportunities. You're not gonna find out about all these little niche opportunities if you're at home taking care of me, myself, and I am a big reader. Libraries. Libraries are a fantastic place to serve. They are always looking for volunteers. Your Christian bookstore is always looking for somebody to help out. Or the, the Christian places that are, have so much material that they. People need those things. So again, if you're an introvert and you don't want to go out and talk to people. There are several, several roles that are orchestrated for you, but you're not going to find them if you don't go out and try a few.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: So I know that's putting ourselves out there again. I think we live in an American society where it's easy to stay in our one little shell. And that's one of the bad things about the pandemic. We stay inside. Whereas if you get out, the opportunities are endless, but you don't know until you step outside your front door.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: That is so good. And that an excellent challenge for all of our friends listening. Because it is not going to happen. Sitting still and not looking out. Yeah, it's just not. So that is. That is amazing. What would you say might be a small but powerful way that someone could serve today and experience joy in it? I mean, I feel like you've given us so many wonderful, wonderful places, but what's maybe one small thing that they can do?
[00:16:56] Speaker B: I think a relationship with Jesus is going to lead to a conversation. God, what would you have me do? What did you equip me to do? You know me better than I know myself. And where can I find joy in doing your work? So having that conversation first, following those promptings and then smiling. Smiling is a habitual thing as well. Once you start, it's kind of hard to stop.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: And at the same time, it takes less muscles to frown, and all of a sudden that gets placed there. I've had sometimes, I guess I smile so much that every now and then people are like, what's wrong? Like why you're not smiling. Oh, okay. Yeah. Put on the joy of the Lord. I mean, going back to I love Annie, but you know, you're not fully dressed without a sm.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Take your smile with you. It's contagious. Use it. Whether you're in the library or the animal shelter or you're just walking the neighbor's dog to help serve somebody else. Maybe you have a really close friend and they're on a bad time having going through something in life. We all have walked through that with a friend, neighbor, or loved one. Check on them, send them a card, whatever is your love language. Find a way to reach out to. To them with a smile and say, I'm here for you, friend. Bring sunshine into their gloomy days, and I promise the rewards will. Will just be bountiful.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. So our perspective here is we are going to focus on others and not ourselves. And we are going to bring the joy of the Lord to all of the places where you're serving, because it is contagious. I feel like that is the theme of what we've got going on here.
All right, well, friends, this has been amazing, and I really hope that you have gotten so much out of this, and I hope that you are going out there to serve others and taking the challenge to do that. And remember that small shifts in perspective can lead to big changes. Now go put those perspectives into practice.
