After the funeral of a friend's father, I have been thinking about the impact that we (all of us) have on the people around us. The funeral was so very moving in large part because of all of the volunteer work that the man had done. It seemed that every one in the church (which was a dozen or so people away from standing room only) had a story about something this man had done for them.
Back in college, I did a lot of volunteer work and enjoyed it quite a bit, but had a hard time finding a way to hook up with the right people after graduation. So I have started thinking about how to get back into volunteer work. I knew that Jeremy would watch Sydney for me if I decided to go off and build a house with Habitat for Humanity, but really, my skill set is pretty limited in terms of manual labor. Also, I really wanted to do something that Sydney could do with me, even at sixteen months old. Given the limitation of having a toddler with me, it seemed like the best choice for using my time to help others might be the "sit and visit" kind of time. So I called our pastor and got the name of a lady who goes to our church who would like to have more visitors.
Today, Sydney and I went to visit that church member at one of the local nursing homes. Let me just tell you that nothing will make you feel like a celebrity more than walking into a nursing home with a cute little girl in tow. (Okay, I guess a cute little boy would work just as well.)
Those folks just thought Sydney was so very precious. People stopped and just stared at her. Some of the ladies came over to talk to Sydney and shake hands. I even heard one lady describing Sydney to her blind friend ("she just has the cutest little pigtails").
Our church friend was very happy to see us, and Sydney did very well as far as entertaining herself. Over the course of an hour long visit, Sydney got into and out of a chair, took her shoes off and asked to have them put back on, played peek a boo with our friend using the privacy curtains, and played with the seat cushions off of the chairs. Considering the length of the visit and how little there really was to do there, I thought Sydney was amazing. At the end of the visit, I was invited to come back and "bring that adorable little girl with you."
I'll call that a success.
What a GREAT idea! I'll have to remember that as Peter gets older. It's great to get kids involved in serving others early.
ReplyDeleteHey, neat blog. I figured I'd drop a line here so you know I found the blog. Glad you liked the postcard.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked the idea. I could see you and Peter doing something very similar.
ReplyDeleteHey Paul! Was it odd looking at the "More Than a City in Australia" blog while visiting Australia?
It's a great idea of something you can do with Syndey.
ReplyDeleteNashville has a program called Hands on Nashville that people can volunteer through. I work with them through my work about twice a year.
It would seem Austin ought to have the same kind of organiztion, although I don't know if you want to drive into Austin.
Georgetown does have "The Caring Place" which we did stuff with in college. I have thought about contacting them but for now, we'll start with one venue, and see what else comes up.
ReplyDeleteGood idea, though.