We at Soapy Soulutions honor those that have taught us the importance of serving and giving. For me, the legacy of serving and giving started when I was a young girl watching how my grandmother Marie served her local community and helped to support families in need internationally.
As a young adult, I realized how much I enjoyed helping others and seeing people smile. Now, helping others doesn't always look the same. In the world of "Gofundme's" help can look like money, money money. Yes, money is important, and part of our mission is to support organizations that provide programs for women and children through education. Monetary donations are just one way of serving others. For instance, in marriage, we are connected as a union; in business, we see ourselves as conduits, positive ions to other individuals. As we walk this journey in life, we cross paths with individuals that need a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or information, and that's where we flourish.
Where it all began
Serving others was not a lesson I learned while at the dinner table. During summer visits to my grandmother's house, I learned valuable lessons observing her interactions with people in her community. Every day after breakfast, we would walk up-town to my gram's personal post office box to retrieve the mail. The post office was not a far walk, but we had to stop and talk to many people because everyone knows my gram. On one particular day, my gram received a letter from a little boy named Emanuel from Guatemala. The letter was actually from a worker who spoke on behalf of Emanuel and his family. Emanuel's family needed a goat for milk, money, and eventually food. I heard for the first time how my gram helped families outside of the United States. My gram donated to World Vision for years, helping many families in need. Every month, my gram received a letter with a child or family photo explaining how her contribution helped them somehow.
In time, my gram's wall of children from exotic lands grew quite large. She would let me read the letters from some of the older kids. Sometimes the children would draw her pictures and write her name in crayons. I never heard my gram complain about helping others; she enjoyed every bit of it to me. I watched my grandmother helping people during the summer months and watched my mom the rest of the year. My mother has a medical background, so helping people comes naturally to her; now that she lives the best life in retirement, she is still helping people.
To this day, I'm not sure if my gram nor my mom realize how much their willingness to help others would have such an impact on me. My why for helping others is clear, and it's who I am. There will come a day where we all need help, and I think that is great! Even the Grinch turned his frown into a smile; helping others is a feel-good experience which we all win. Do you enjoy helping others? If so, share a feel-good moment or share of a time when someone helped you, and it made all the difference in your life. Thanks for reading.
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