Attitude of Gratitude: Service Olympics

I'm grateful for service. A couple weeks ago, we had a Service Olympics at my school. Each class competed against each other by bringing in coins to donate to kids in Haiti, collecting recycling, and reading the most books/pages during our read-a-thon that Friday. It was fun to see the kids get excited each day, although my class didn't get SUPER into it.

This past week, we had a big assembly to give the check to the Red Cross with all the money we earned. As a school, we earned over $1,500. It was pretty exciting. We watched a slideshow one of the teachers had put together with pictures of what happened in Haiti to explain to the kids where their money was going and why it was needed. I was touched. Then they presented the "Gold, Silver, and Bronze" medals to the classes with the most money donated, the most recycling, and the most books/minutes read. Those classes got prizes from some local sponsors. My class didn't win anything, but it was still fun to watch. :)

I was on afternoon recess duty later that day and was talking to some of my students. One of my girls asked me when we were going to get our prize for giving money. I said that we didn't win, so we wouldn't get anything. She said, "But I donated money! When do I get my prize for that??" We then had a little chat about how we were serving and when we serve, we don't expect anything in return. We were helping those kids in Haiti who need so much and knowing that we helped should be enough. She wasn't convinced.

It made me think...How often do we serve those around us expecting something in return? Or even if we don't expect anything in return, how often do we serve others around us for the recognition? I'm sure all of you who are reading never do those things and are compassionate people on your own. I know it is something I need to work on. Service for the pure love of the people I'm serving and of my Savior, Jesus Christ. It's so easy to get wrapped up in my own little world and forget there are others around who are in such need. So I challenge myself (and you if you'd like) to drop a few minutes of your day into serving others. And serving for the pure love of serving.

I'm grateful for all the people who serve me each day. My parents and family for loving and supporting me, even when I call and gripe about stupid things.

My friends for sticking by me no matter how long it's been since we've talked (too many people to put pictures for...sorry).

My students for making me laugh.