Serve {recapping June}

It is time to share our experiences and struggles with being a servant.  Sharing these experiences and struggles help to encourage one another.  Please comment below with your own experiences and struggles.

Normally on the first Sunday of each month here at Woman to Woman, we recap our One Word for the year. But today I wanted to repost and share Shari's recent post, 101 Ways You And Your Family Can Serve Others. Shari gives wonderful advice and ideas for serving others. This is what serving is all about!

Our word for the year at Woman to Woman is serve. We've been focusing on ways we can serve others and show Christ's love to them.

God's word commands us to think of others more highly than ourselves, to love and encourage them, and to be a servant to them.

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:1-4

Today at Woman to Woman I want to challenge you to look for ways you can be a servant to your family and others around you. Listed below you'll find a, "101 Ways You and Your Family Can Serve Others." The main premise behind serving is to go out of your way to let someone else know that their loved and cared for. It can mean getting outside of your comfort zone to fill a need that someone else might have. Serving others can take place in many shapes and forms, it all depends upon what someone else might need, or what might make someone else happy.

Take the time this month to include your family and try some of these ideas. Watch the change in your spirit and the spirit of others as you show God's love to those around you.


1. Send someone a card, just because.
2. Make a favorite meal for friends.
3. Visit a shut-in.
4. Bake cookies and take them to a fire station thanking them for their service.
5. Tell your spouse, "I love you."
6. Do yard work for the elderly.
7. Iron clothes for a family member without being asked.
8. Volunteer in the church office.
9. Be a driver for Meals on Wheels.
10. Do a chore without being asked.
11. Volunteer at a local soup kitchen.
12. Volunteer to babysit for a single mom or dad, so they can get some much needed rest.
13. Fill shoe boxes for Samaritans Purse at Christmas time.
14. Do a toilet paper and paper towel drive for out of work families in your area. (They can not purchase these items with food stamps.)
15. Give your mom/wife the day off, and do all of her chores for the day.
16. Wash and vacuum your husband's car.
17. Collect gently used baby items for a crisis pregnancy home.
18. Mow your neighbors yard and do their weeding for them while their away on vacation.
19. Make your husband's favorite cookies.
20. Give your children and extra hug today, look them in the eye and tell them, "I love you."
21. Clean your friend's house.
22. Pay for the person behind you in a drive through.
23. Volunteer at a local shelter.
24. Volunteer at a local food bank.
25. Surprise your brother or sister by cleaning their room.
26. Let someone else go before you in line.
27. Donate clothes to the Goodwill.
28. Donate canned goods to a local food bank.
29. Adopt a needy at family at Christmas, buy presents and Christmas dinner for them.
30. Drop off gently used games and movies at a family emergency shelter.
31. Text or call your husband at work and tell him how wonderful he is.
32. Make a handmade card for your parents thanking them for everything they do for you.
33. Gather blankets for a men's shelter in your area.
34. Make quilts to send overseas for missionaries.
35. Save your change to put into the Alabaster offering.
36. Put sticky notes around the house for your family, telling them how much you appreciate them.
37. Call your parents and let them know you love them.
38. Be willing to admit your wrong.
39. Smile
40. Go on a work and witness trip.
41. Send thank you cards to your pastors.
42. Hold a baby shower for the unwed mother in your church. 
43. Listen
44. Make your teacher a card and her favorite cookies. Tell him/her how much you appreciate him/her.
45. Volunteer in the church nursery.
46. Teach a Sunday school class.
47. Babysit your grandchildren.
48. Volunteer to sing at a nursing home.
49. Help your children with their homework.
50. Give your husband the weekend off, let him relax at home.
51. Volunteer to mow your church's lawn.
52. Buy groceries for Thanksgiving dinner for an out of work family in your church.
53. Make Valentine's Day cookies for the children in your church.
54. Clean your parent's house.
55. Do devotions with your family.
56. Visit a friend in the hospital.
57. Host a Bible study.
58. Pray for others.
59. Take the time to tell others what a great job their doing.
60. Hold the door open for others.
61. Tell your daughter, "She's beautiful and how special she is."
62. Give words of encouragement to your son.
63. Shovel your neighbor's driveway.
64. Volunteer to walk the cats and dogs at an animal shelter.
65. Be a mentor to a younger mother at church.
66. Help out in your church's youth department.
67. Be your husband's biggest cheerleader.
68. Don't complain.
69. Speak encouraging, life-giving words to everyone.
70. Ask a friend if there is anything they need help with, follow through and help them.
71. Make sure to put Christ first in your life, nourish your own soul through spending time in His word, so you can be a light to others.
72. Let the little things go.
73. If you're ever in the hospital send a thank you card to the nurses that helped take care of you.
74. Plan a secret service project with your family. Pick and elderly person in your neighborhood or church who can not get out much and are on a limited income. Have your children make a card for them telling them how special they are. Collect canned goods and other non perishables and put them together in a box or basket. Place the items and card on their doorstep when they're not home. Pray over the person as you leave that they would be blessed by your actions and feel closer to the Lord. 
75.Write letters to our service men, encouraging them as they are away from their families and serving our country.
76. Tuck your children into bed every night.
77. Take your children out on dates creating special memories with them.
78. Practice hospitality by making a special meal for your pastors and have them over for dinner.
79. Volunteer to help at VBS.
80. Make your husband and children lunch before they leave for the day. Put encouraging notes in their lunch bags.
81. Buy a praise and worship CD for a friend who is going through a difficult time.
82. Volunteer your time at a local oncology office. Visit with the patients, offer to get them drinks or snacks, that the office has on hand.
83. When you pick up produce at the farmers market, get extra and take the items to a sick friend.
84. Say "I'm sorry."
85. Help a friend move.
86. Take a young family out to lunch after church.
87. Volunteer to work in your church's coffee shop.
88. Have a garage sale and donate the money to charity.
89. Plant flowers in an elderly persons yard.
90. Give rides to friends who have cars that are in need of repairs.
91. Do the dishes for your parents, every night for a week, without being asked.
92. Love without conditions.
93. Visit a sick friend.
94. Have a "Family Fun Night", where you play games or watch movies with your family.
95. Cut flowers from your garden and take them to a grandparent for them to enjoy.
96. Light candles in your home to create a peaceful atmosphere.
97. Stay calm.
98. Let others speak before you.
99. If you have a specific talent such as knitting or crocheting, teach a friend or family member who has been wanting to learn.
100. Don't gossip.
101. Pick up trash along the roadside or at a local park.
Can you think of other ways that we can serve others? Please let us know in the comments or on our Facebook page what happened after you and your family practiced serving others. What type of reaction did you get? How did you and your family feel afterwards?