The Power of Service
Amanda Macdonald
As I gripped the steering wheel, I was all too aware of the lump in my throat and the sweat glazing my palms. My husband of eight months and I just had just packed our entire lives into a rented moving truck and were headed halfway across the country, a few weeks before he started medical school in a city and state new to both of us. I gazed out the window as the dusty, dry, familiar desert of the Great Basin and the craggy peaks of the Rockies gave way to sagebrush fields and eventually the vast golden plains of the Midwest. Finally, we reached the rolling hills of Missouri—our new home. We were excited for our new adventure, but I was all too aware that we had left just about everything and everyone we knew behind.
I knew that people move across the country (and do much harder things) every day, and that I was blessed to have a loving and supportive husband in my new home with me. Still, I was surprised by how homesick, even lonely, I felt.
Strengthened by Loving Service
But as we settled into life in Missouri, I was also surprised by the loving community of people who reached out to my husband and me. We began attending church near where we lived, and our new church family didn’t hesitate to welcome us with open arms. I was overwhelmed with gratitude as new neighbors pitched together to help us unload our moving truck in 95-degree weather and 90% humidity. Other members of our church congregation showed up at our door, peanut butter cookies in hand. A family just as new to the area as we were invited us over for dinner. A recently baptized member of our church, who had children my age, took me in her arms and gave me the kind of hug only a mom can.
Why, I wondered, would so many people who didn’t know us take the time to show us that they cared? I don’t believe that the members of our congregation who showed us such love and support served us because they thought we were overly special. Most of them hadn’t even met us before, and truth be told, were pretty ordinary. But though the people in our new church family were of diverse backgrounds, they had something in common: they were people of faith. They loved God and put their faith into action by serving God’s children—in this case, my husband and me.
Service is Faith in Action
Growing up, I was taught that when you become a member of a faith community, you promise to be there for those who are in need. My church’s scripture teaches that you promise that you “are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; . . . and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (see Mosiah 18:8–9). The people in my new congregation made these truths real to me by living the promises that they had made to God. They stood as witnesses of His love for us through their small yet oh-so-meaningful acts of service. They lived their faith by serving others.
The Bible teaches “Let he who is the greatest among you be your servant” (see Matthew 23:11). And whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or of any other religion, I believe this statement holds true. As I reflect on how I was so blessed by the great faith and service of those who reached out when I needed a friend, I am motivated to “pay it forward” by putting my own faith into action. My experience in our new city taught me that service doesn’t have to be some large, momentous act for it to be meaningful. We can serve anyone (whether or not they look, think or believe like us) anytime, anywhere. And that’s the beauty of showing faith by serving others. We don’t have to travel far to find someone in need of our love. We can live our faith by serving anyone around us, in any way we can.
Amanda Seeley Macdonald is a graduate of Brigham Young University, a freelance writer, a bibliophile, and a lover of lemon bars. Contact her at macdonald.amanda@icloud.com.
