Nicholas Schwab
AMH2020 Service Project
July 16, 2016
The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I believe if you want to make a difference in world, to start with, it needs to be done in your local community. This is the cornerstone of serving the world. Today our country and world are experiencing some dark times. If we came together and served one person each we could change the world. When I think of service, I think of a quote by Ronald Reagan, “We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” When I am serving someone I try to always think of that quote. I try to always put myself in the other person’s shoes and think of ways I can use my blessing to benefit others. I have a passion for my local community. During football season I come home on the weekends and coach an Upward football team. This is a great platform to serve kids, be a great role model to, and teach the kids the basics of what it means be a Christian. When I started volunteering for this ministry four years ago I began to look at people in my local home town of Perry, Florida different. This ministry created a deeper hunger in me to help the people that needed a positive influence in my local town. This world needs a light and I believe we as people are the light, and need to be the light, that this dark world needs. I want to help people in any way I can. Through the Upward ministry I began to serve my community in other ways as well. Because it is not football season I look to serve through volunteering every Tuesday at a local place called the Father’s Storehouse. This is a food and clothing shelter that is ran by my church. At the Father’s storehouse we give away clothes and food for free to the people who need it in our community. Clothing is mostly donated from people in the community. The food is brought from my church and other local churches in the region. The main lady who operates the store house is one of the sweetest ladies in the world. Her name is Mrs. Betty. She is an elderly lady who always has something positive to say. Her smile and personality puts a smile on my face every time I talk to her. My job at the Father’s Storehouse is to unload the truck with food every Tuesday. A couple guys and I unload these heavy boxes full of any kind of food you can think of. We store all the dry foods in a shed and put the cold food inside. Once we unload all the food I go through the boxes and organize them for Mrs. Betty since she is elderly lady and has a harder time lifting than I do. I was blessed with strength and size so any chance I get to use these talents for God’s glory I consider it a blessing. One of the biggest benefits I get from this act of service is seeing the smile and joy on peoples face as they leave from this place. They now can go home with food or clothes that they did not have before. These little things that I can sometimes take for granted they take as a gift. Because of this, it is a very humbling experience. It makes me thankful for what I am blessed with. To me, acts of service do not just benefit the person being served. It also has a huge impact on the person serving. It fills my heart with so much joy when I see the fruits of my labor. It means more to me than the person will ever know when I see someone leave with a smile on their face knowing they are taking something really awesome home to their families. I encourage everyone, if are blessed, give back to the community or help others in a way that can benefit them in ways we may never know. Do not waste the things that God has blessed us with. Rather, use it for his glory and to change someone for the better.
