Helping Hands

Helping Hands

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

2 Corinthians 8:11-12, NIV

“Who is that?” someone asked my then-six-year-old niece Madeline. Looking around, she saw the woman this person was referring to and said casually, “Oh, her? That’s our maid.”

The funny thing was, this woman wasn’t a maid. My niece wasn’t trying to be rude or flippant in her assessment; it was true that Carol cleaned their home each week. Rather than a paid professional, however, she was simply a wonderful friend, one who volunteered her time to clean my sister Katrina’s home. At the time, Katrina was sick with cancer. Between her brutal, draining treatments and caring for her two young children, she simply didn’t have the energy or ability to keep up with cleaning the house.

Knowing this, Carol offered to help. She began to visit regularly, arriving on my sister’s doorstep with buckets and cleaning supplies in hand. Each week, she spent several hours scrubbing and washing and cleaning the house from top to bottom. Vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing showers and toilets—all the thankless jobs that are part of housecleaning she did faithfully and with a smile for a period of several months.

It’s easy to say to someone, “I’d like to help.” But going the extra mile to follow through is the true measure of whether our good intentions actually materialize into kind actions. Scripture says that we are all given gifts in order to contribute to God’s Kingdom, but just as important as the gifts themselves is our willingness and eagerness to use our gifts to serve. Even just a pair of hands, outstretched to help someone in need, can make all the difference.

—Kristin

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Giving your time to others is a gift. Volunteer an hour of your time to help meet another person’s need.