Serving Others

My friend Marcia just wrote about Givers and Takers on her blog, and it kind of touched on something I was just thinking about the other day....

Abel, my 2 1/2-year old, is getting to the age where he is pretty handy to have around.  I can ask him to do the most menial of tasks--throw a dirty diaper in the trash, run outside and grab the paper, carry dirty dishes from the table to the sink--and nine out of ten times he will do it promptly and joyfully.  His willing obedience brings joy to my heart, and it also saves me a few steps.  The other day as he was happily fulfilling my request to get a tissue for Amariah's nose, I thought to myself, "How much longer until he realizes it isn't always 'fun' to help?"

Looking back on this, I realize that the fact that I even had such a thought doesn't say too much about me.  I think one can easily infer that I must not think it's always fun to help others.  Thanks to Abel's willingness to serve joyfully, I am now forced to reevaluate my own attitude towards serving others.  I pray that rather than Abel learning from my attitude that "serving isn't always fun," I will instead learn from Abel's attitude that serving others is a joy and a privilege.