Serve Update {link up & giveaway}

It is time for us to revisit our one word for 2013 and see how are are doing.  How have we served in the past month?  How have we struggled with serving?  What are our thoughts?

Debi,  Our word is 'serve.'  I have tried to truly be mindful of how I can serve.  First and foremost, I want to serve God.  If I don't serve Him, no other amount of serving is worth anything.  Next is to serve my family, then my church, my community and my neighbor...which incidentally includes 'strangers.'  Right now, I am focusing on how I can serve God by serving in each of these other areas.  The opportunity to serve is always just in front of us.  It may be paying it forward to the car behind us in the drive thru.  It may be visiting a sick loved one in the hospital or taking them a meal once they've gotten home.  It could be to rake the leaves of our elderly neighbor.  I am praying daily that God will 'show' me each opportunity He has for me to serve!

Mandy, Even in these few short weeks since we chose our one word I've learned serving, no matter how good the service is or how good we feel about it or how big the service was it means absolutely nothing without a real, true relationship with God. You can serve all you want, day in day out till your completely worn out but it will mean nothing if you don't have an on-going relationship with Jesus. One night after I had gotten out of the shower I noticed some writing on our bathroom mirror. You couldn't see it unless the mirror was fogged up and I KNEW it was a message from God. "Have a servant's heart by forgiving the wrong done to you and loving unconditionally." So right now that's what I'm doing to serve. I'm working toward true forgiveness and learning to love unconditionally. Loving isn't just saying "I love you" but it's moving towards choosing to be joyful in loading the dishwasher, having devotions with my kids, praying with my husband, even when I don't feel like these things I'm making a conscious effort to serve every day. I'm learning it doesn't have to be ground-breaking...baby steps are just as important to God as ground breaking, world changing service. "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin" Zechariah 4:10 lk

Shari, Since we have chosen the word "serve" for our one word this year I've tried to be mindful of how I could go about serving others in little everyday ways. I try to find things like doing the dishes when it's not my turn, to making phone calls for my husband that he would normally make, to going out of my way to be there for my children, when they need that little bit of extra help with their home work. This past month, I've found that when I make a conscious effort to serve, not only am I benefiting the other person, I am also benefiting myself. I feel good about myself when I am able to show others that their cared for. I also feel that my relationship with the Lord is being strengthened when I am obedient to Him by showing His love to others.

Jenifer, So often we think of serving as spending money.  Yes, many times when we serve we do need to spend money, but not always.  This is where I often struggle with serving.  I desperately want to help others in a financial way {like buying groceries for someone, or paying for the person behind me in the drive-thru, etc} but I don't always have the money to do so.  January is normally a very slow time for my husband at work.  Often times he is even off work for a few weeks.  So extra money to serve others is something we do not always have.  But serving others doesn't have to be a financial burden.  Yes, even if we are down to our last twenty dollars and God tells us to give it away, we must obey.  He will honor that obedience.  But we can serve without spending money.  

Two weeks ago I connected via an email prayer group with two other women who are in similar financial situations as me.  We decided to become prayer partners lifting each other and our finances up to God.  We are serving one another by praying for one another.  Another way I have served this month is by helping my family.  A few months ago we passed the chore of laundry on to each child.  They are now responsible for doing their own laundry; washing, drying, folding and putting away.  This has been a huge relief for me and frees me up for other chores that are my responsibility.  Even though this is no longer my 'job' I can still help if they need it.  One of the kids started laundry, but I finished it for them.  My oldest son works and his laundry was piling up so while he was at work, I did a load for him.  I can serve my family by helping when needed.

Serving is something I am continually working on and learning about.

I want to ask you, how serious are you about this 'one word'?  How serious are you to committing to serving God, our families, our churches, our communities and others in 2013?  


We are so excited to have partnered with The Rusted Chain for a beautiful necklace that says SERVE!  This metal, hand stamped necklace is perfect to lay next to our heart and remind us to be servants of God. From now til March 3rd, The Rusted Chain will donate 10% from each serve necklace to an abused woman's shelter.  What a precious way to serve!  My church has personally worked with this shelter and I know this extra money will be a huge blessing to them.  The ladies that work with this shelter get calls at all times of the day and night to go out on domestic police calls and they always take a little teddy bear along for each child.  They have women and children stay in the shelter and help these women get back on their feet.  It is so wonderful to hear of the great things they do to serve others.  

Each of the Woman to Woman ladies have a serve necklace and we wear them daily.  To order your very own serve necklace, which will serve the women's shelter, click on the picture of the necklace above or click HERE.

Now, for a giveaway!  Complete each task in the rafflecopter below to enter to win a serve necklace!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On the first Sunday of each month we will come together here at Woman to Woman and talk about our word, serve, and how we have committed to serving throughout the previous month. Our prayer is that you join with us on this journey.  Throughout the month, in your own life, we encourage you to serve, then come here and tell us how you have done.  We greatly encourage you to comment on the posts telling us how you are doing, your struggles, your successes, and your thoughts.  If you are a blogger, we encourage you to also write a post about serving and link up with us.{The link up will only be for blog posts about serving.}

Grab a link up button!

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