Why I Volunteer

This evening, as I was sitting in sitting in traffic headed the complete opposite direction from home after a very long day at work, I simply wondered "why am I really doing this?"

"This" is going to meet up with a volunteer coordinator at Trevecca Health and Rehab Center, where I will be introduced to a client that I will begin to visit twice a month through the Greater Nashville Public Guardianship Program. I will check on this sweet woman, make sure she looks healthy, hasn't lost too much weight, and I will talk to her. I may even take her to bingo.

The question "why" is one that I have to ask myself, because honestly, I am way too busy. I know it, my friends know it, my husband knows it. I do too much. Full time job (sometimes more than full time), church activities and projects, meetings, social gatherings, weekend trips to see family, and so on. Type A doesn't come close to describing it. But tonight, I realized that despite all of that, I was truly looking forward to this experience. It was a breath of fresh air.

I do it because I need to be reminded, regularly, that I am not the center of the universe. I need this reminder to get through the week- it gives me perspective. I also do it because I can't seem to reconcile reading scripture, praying, going to church, and trying to live a life that is patterned after Christ, without being in the presence of "the least of these" once in a while . I can't not touch them, not talk to them, not hear them, not get into their world. And if my motives sound selfish, I must admit that they are. But I know that no matter what, my actions are in some way tipping the scales of this world toward the good, even if just for a moment. And that is why I volunteer. How could I not?