To Raise Your Hand or Not Volunteer

Volunteer…

A simple word found toward the end of a dictionary and often found at the end of a homeschool mom’s list as well. It is a word that can cause us to shudder as we ponder our already full schedules, yet volunteering can be a positive experience if approached at the right time and place in our lives. Volunteer possibilities come in all shapes and sizes which can be personal, homeschool related, church, or even community based. It may be in the form of babysitting for a friend or watering a neighbor’s plants while they are gone, writing a homeschool co-op newsletter or teaching a sewing class, assisting in the church nursery or singing on the worship team, serving at a local soup kitchen or helping in a concession stand for a basketball tournament.

Anything can be a possible volunteer opportunity to help with the needs of others and as we witness harder economic times, a new call for serving without pay in many programs may be heard throughout the land. Commitments to volunteer vary from daily, weekly, monthly, or a one time responsibility for a few hours. It may be an activity that easily flows with our life at the moment or it may require sacrifice of both time and finances on our part. A phone call recruiting for volunteers doesn’t just come for homeschool moms. Often dads and older children get contacted for opportunities to serve. Although my husband no longer says “Yes!” to piano moving – ouch! – he does enjoy driving the church bus for activities.

Older children can easily assist an adult in a wide range of activities such as raking the lawn of an elderly person, helping with VBS, or assistant coaching a baseball team. Having older children participate as volunteers helps them to grow responsibility into their lives as well as develop leadership skills.

Volunteering is an opportunity to use gifts and talents God has blessed YOU with to bless OTHERS providing a wonderful experience for all who are involved whether the giver or the receiver. The best volunteers are those who are serving with passion and not just doing it to fulfill a necessary warm body position.

Sound good? Yes! And yet, it is important to use wisdom when being contacted to serve as a volunteer. It does seem that there is a mindset that moms who are home full time are also available to others full time as well. However, often families are already stretched to their limit in keeping up with their homeschooling responsibilities, not to mention their regular home duties. Adding one more thing could stretch parents beyond reasonableness and take away the cheerful giver perspective. It is important to keep a healthy balance in our lives as parents weighing additional activities with our main priorities.

Cover possible volunteer opportunities with prayer in order to make the best decision for all involved. There was a season in my own life when volunteering was a disaster and I had to learn to say,” NO!” Being pregnant with a family which included toddlers and younger children, trying to home school, keeping up with our general household, and assisting our own parents as they went through cancer and doctor appointments, meant that adding anything at all would threaten our sanity which felt borderline at times for this overly tired mama. Yet we survived those early days and now that our family has grown up and grown smaller, I can stretch my wings a little more by volunteering in areas that I enjoy. My weeks include a shift at a pregnancy resource center sharing the Lord’s love with those going through a difficult time as well as sharing my love for pregnancy and babies that has been enhanced through birth doula training.

I’m also starting my second season as a soccer team coach. Since I’m already at the soccer fields with my girls and have no little ones to chase anymore, it seemed like a good way to serve and keep in shape at the same time. Although I am not overly athletic and lack grace on the field as witnessed last year when a boy said I kicked the ball like a grandma – hey, I could respond that I WAS a grandma and therefore allowed to kick like that! – my enjoyment comes primarily by encouraging each child to develop their abilities and skills on the soccer field. Willingness to serve others using your gifts and talents with a cheerful heart is a wonderful motivating factor for anyone interested in helping as a volunteer. To love others in this manner is also a way of showing our love for our Heavenly Father and isn’t that really the Heart of the Matter?

Married in 1980 and still living in the same house in a woodsy rural setting, Tammy’s homeschooling journey began in the fall of 1987 when her oldest turned six years old. As rather new believers professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, homeschooling was a way to live out the principles found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Through all the challenges of life Tammy has stayed the course growing to a family with nine children who presently range from preschool age to college graduates married with children. Her role has transitioned from learning everything she could about homeschooling to becoming an encourager to others coming along the way. Please visit Tammy at Garden Glimpses.

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