Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to Elizabeth Smart speak as part of BYU's Voices of Courage Campaign. As she shared her story and insights, I gained my own insight and recognized what an opportunity it was to hear her speak.
As Elizabeth captivated her audience by sharing her experience, she testified of her knowledge that God loves all of us--no matter what. The advice she received from her mother upon being rescued is applicable to us all in our own trials. Her captor stole 9 months of her life, but she refuses to let him steal anymore. Instead of letting her horrific experience hold her back, she chose to be happy, be thankful, and live her life to the fullest. So can we--our trials don't define us, but how we react to them does.
Now, you may be wondering: "What does this post have to do with service?!" I'd be happy to tell you!
You can serve more efficiently and to the best of your ability if you first become what you can yourself. For example, how would a doctor be able to help and assist patients if he hadn't first gone through years of schooling and training? Elizabeth smart has become a voice for courage through her experience of being kidnapped. Now she is an example to us all, as she is using her talents to serve and touch the hearts of so many others.
I wasn't able to make it to the Elizabeth Smart seminar so I'm glad you posted about it. I thought it was interesting that you bolded the most important line; that was really engaging as a reader. I liked hearing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI loved your final paragraph here Rebecca! I feel exactly the same way about service. I sometimes struggle to find my own passion for service and it;s probably beacuase I am still trying to find myself and my own passions and my own self.
ReplyDeleteMy challenge in service is trying to do things for a pure reason. I don't want to just do service for a selfish reason. And I don't want to do service to be seen of people. I want to do service because I care about someone else. And sometimes this fear prevents us from acting immediately and just going for it. So I am taking your challenge to try to find mysellf even more and find more of a passion for service. Thanks so much for bringing this point up about service! Awesome.