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When I hear the words ‘service’ thoughts of high school community projects and church activities pop into my head. But service doesn’t have to big to make a difference does it?

It’s been a tough year around here as you all know so when Carissa asked me to get involved in VolunteerSpot Summer of Service, I thought “What the heck am I going to write about? We haven’t really done anything as a family this year that is post worthy“. Which is why it has taken me to the actual day it was due to write this.

I can’t say my kids have fed the homeless or built a habitat for humanity this year. They just haven’t. But do we help others? Absolutely. I just don’t think of it as ‘service’. We expect it of our kids.

We expect our kids to help someone with their groceries,  lift something heavy or hold the door for an over burdened mom. We expect them to recycle their clothes through Goodwill, give away old toys, and clean up their environment when they see trash. In essence, we expect them to be of service whenever and however they can.

Maybe that is because Jesuit principle of being men and women for others pervade who my husband and I are as people, have been raised and how we raise our children? I don’t know. I do know that service can and should be a part of our every day lives.

“Today our prime educational objective must be to form men and women for others; men and women who live not for themselves but for God and his Christ …men and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love of the least of their neighbors – for the God man who lived and died for all the world; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for people is a farce.”

-Pedro Arrupe, SJ
Former Superior General, Society of Jesus

How does your family serve others? Do you expect your kids to be of service to others?

*disclosure: I am participating in VolunteerSpot’s Summer of Service series! VolunteerSpot is a time-saving website that makes it easy to organize parents and volunteers with free online sign up sheets. Use it to coordinate almost anything – classroom helpers and parties, school carnivals and fundraisers, swim team and soccer snacks, service projects, neighborhood events, and more!