Volunteering is fun- Sure it is!

I have no idea who the first volunteers were. Perhaps it was some caveman who volunteered himself to check out the Saber tooth tiger den to see if it was still occupied, and when the guy never came back, his wife was probably given a trophy to honor him for “Service above Self.”   Or perhaps, people started keeping track of volunteerism with the 12 Apostles. They were most certainly volunteers! They had to set up camp, decorate and get people to the sermon on the mount in time,and even feed them with only a few loaves of bread and some fish! All that work and for no pay.

Then there is Ben Franklin. He was big on philanthropy, he created the very first fire department, his quote, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” since whole cities were often burned down by rapidly spreading fires. The name of the 1736 volunteer fire department was the Union Fire Company.

At work, you’re given the illusion of an option to volunteer, but its more like being “volentold.”  When you are a parent, if your not one yet, you are in for a treat. You will be asked to volunteer and given all sorts of accolades, and you will love it for a while,   and just beam with pride since you have probably never had so many compliments, or felt so valued, and that’s great for a year or two or three, until…. You get burned out.   You don’t really know what burned out is until you have volunteered.  And no one will care if you are burned out, just as long as you have a pulse, and they can sneak out of the school gymnasium decorating committee while you are there. “You’re such a great leader” they smile and say as they sneak out the back.

Volunteering was a high for me for years. I guess, as a child, I never got enough praise or notice, and if that is the case for you, then volunteering is your game.  I started out decorating school play background, cub scouts, then went on to the Red Cross. From there, Sunday school, Habitat for Humanity, Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, and then Sober Grad, and then Rotary.  Rotary was different because unlike other volunteer work, in Rotary, you pay to volunteer! It was the night of the storm, when we volunteered to park cars for the annual Christmas Polar Express event…. The storm was so bad that the wind was driving the rain sideways under our pop up. Suddenly, the wind became so strong that it picked up this Pop up and hurled it at the back of Del’s head, which drove half his body in through my passenger side window where he had just been talking to me moments ago. The scene was so ridiculous and suddend that I let out a burst of laughter that sounded like a bleating calf! He did not appreciate it.

As this holiday season approaches, there will be plenty of opportunities to volunteer, so stop and think wisely about your choice, perhaps ask yourself what the Apostles would have asked themselves. Is it the TRUTH?  Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? And fun! Not sure about that last part, but I thought I would throw it in there.