This past week I have been thinking about what it means to help and the many ways to help people because my youth minister challenged to show god's love through helping. The way you help someone can be big or small but sometimes the smallest things help more than the big. We all know the basic ways of helping but have you ever thought about how acknowledgment and creating conversation is a form of helping?
Probably the simplest way of helping yet the hardest is acknowledging people for who they are. If you acknowledge someone in the hallway or anywhere you're giving them a recognition that they are important and that they exist. A small example of this could be seeing someone in the hallway and just waving to them or saying hi. There's also a way to use acknowledgment as being helpful on a large scale. When you see someone on the corner of the street with a sign asking for money we often ignore them but if you gave a moment to them and smiled even if you don't give them money you're still showing them by your body language that you care about them. Acknowledgement is a form of helping because it helps people feel cared about. Another way to help people is simply by talking to them. Conversations are a big way that people connect each other and get help with their struggles. Personally conversations have helped me immensely. For example when my grandpa passed away last year my group leaders from camp came to see me and we had about an hour long conversation . Without that conversation the situation would have been really difficult to get through. Also this summer I was able to have another serious conversation about my struggles with the same counselor. Having someone to talk to in your life that will support you no matter what is very important and life changing. Its also helpful to have someone by your side to talk to because sometimes they have been through the same experience and have good advice. Conversations are very powerful and can start off with a simple hi. When you see someone in the hall having a good or bad day just by saying "hi how are you ?" Can be a huge help to them because it invites them to have a conversation with you if they choose to. Another way you can help people is by including people so that no one is ever left out. Asking someone to join your lunch table or sit by you in class can have a huge impact on someone's life because they might be in a place in their life when they have no one to talk to and no one to hang out with. Inlcuding people is also important because every needs someone to encourage them and someone to have fun with. The more common way of helping people includes holding the door open for people, or picking up someone's books in the hall. When we help in this way we often do it when people are watching so we can make a good impression on them. However there are ways you can help without being noticed. For example if someone is about to pull out of a parking lot and there's a cart in the way that they don't notice you can move the cart so they don't hit it. Even though the person may not know you moved the cart you are still helping them. Other common ways to help people include assisting people with their homework, sharing, assisting them with any tasks they can't achieve be themselves and so much more. There are a lot more ways you can help people and hopefully this has an eye openener to new ways ti help people.
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This summer I went to Rock Lake Christian Assemblies high school week of camp. This year was my tenth or eleventh year at Rock Lake. Even though I have been going to the camp for a while these past two years have been the greatest. This past week i have a really been thinking about my friendships at camp and my family group at camp.
The most amazing part of camp is family groups. This year my family group was so powerful and amazing. Although technically they aren't family by blood there family by heart. Family isn't necessary just your immediate blood relatives they are people who are important in your life and are there for you. My family group consisted of ten strangers in the beginning of camp, throughout the week we shared many laughs together. It was good to just be real with people and mess around and make jokes without feeling judged. As the week went on our group got very very close and we became comfortable with sharing our struggles with each other. We got so close that we would cry in front of each other. Having a family so close at camp was somewhat frightening because I was scared that when camp was over we would grow apart. Thankfully that didn't happen; We have a group chat that helps us all keep up with each other which is amazing because we’re still able to be there for eachother even though we can't see eachother every day. My favorite thing my family group did together at camp is reateach where were reenact a bible story in a random theme. The first day our group had to reenact the story in pokemon form. The second day we had to reenact the story in the form of a pokemon infomercial. This was one of my favorite ones we did because everyone played a different part in the skit but everyone was still important to the skit. When we were working on creating the skits it was a learning experience because when we were trying to figure out ideas you developed a better understanding of what other people in your groups enjoy and what ideas appeal more to them. Another thing I love about my family group is that we still see each other. One afternoon we all got together to get ice cream. getting ice cream with them was very cool because it gave us a chance to catch up on our lives since camp. The friendships that form in these groups will hopefully stay forever. One of the most special things about my week of camp was the friendships that formed. It’s somewhat strange how friendships start. One of the strangest friendships was the friendship I formed with this kid Alec. On the first day of camp Alec and I barely talked talked to each other about the only thing we said to each other was what grade we were in. The second day I got roped into the dart game by saving Alec so I decided i was gonna make him walk the dock by sending him five letters. In each other the letters all it said was have fun jumping in the lake and that's where our friendship began because he was trying to figure out why i threw him in the lake. I thought it was just gonna be an ordinary friendship how ever it ended up be so much more. Thursday night at bonfire he sat next to and we were singing worship songs and it was something about that moment that was different. As you looked up into the sky and noticed the beautiful stars and you looked around you saw a group of students all enjoying themselves around the fire singing and nobody cared how ridiculous we looked for we all felt like we were on top of the world. After we split into our groups and were heading towards the lodges I noticed Alec standing there by himself so i asked him what was wrong and he started opening up to me. Him opening up to me was a very powerful moment because it was a sign of trust. The next morning the speaker gave a message that hit me hard and i started crying and then were dismissed to our quiet independent time and he came over and we cryed together. That moment I will never forget because it was two imperfect humans sharing their emotions with each other. The friendships at these years week of camp are friendships that will never die. |
AuthorI'm Lenae and I'm full of life. Archives
February 2016
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