Volunteering....

With all that has gone on with me these last couple of years, with all the anxiety, the minor panic attacks, the self absorption in my own pain, I haven't spent a lot of time going out in the community and doing for others. Not that I did a lot of that before, but I did go on a couple of mission trips, donated blood regularly, spent time being a GOOD friend. All of that got pushed aside while I focused inward. But that has changed as I have been feeling a call recently to do more.....to be the hands and feet of Christ.....to go outside of myself, outside of my comfort zone to help others.

I have been looking for opportunities to do just that and kind of stumbled into an opportunity. I work at Nationwide Insurance and I know what an army of people it takes when a catastrophe strikes. I wanted to be a part of that army, so when 2 of the Nationwide CAT vehicles visited our Columbus, OH location, I signed up to be a call center volunteer during CAT's (catastrophe's). I have always wanted to help with this but wasn't sure how to get involved. I know I can't just pick up and leave my day job to head out to the site of disasters to physically do the work. But volunteering for phone duty? Now THAT I can do.

I will be receiving training and then be on call to help answer phones in the event of a catastrophe or natural disaster. My hope is that I never get called.....not because I don't want to do it, but if I AM called, it means that there are people in distress, people who may have losses beyond anything any of us can fathom.

Since I don't know when or if I will get called upon to help with CAT claims calls, I felt that I needed to search out another volunteer activity. In my search I wandered upon a need for volunteers to make birthday cakes and cookies for hospice patients. WOW, what a great way to serve while using my skills and creativity to brighten someone elses day.

I am looking forward to stretching myself and I can't wait to share any experiences I have in these and other volunteer opportunites.

If you are involved in any time of community outreach, or any type of volunteering, I would love to hear about it. I would love to hear stories about your experiences. Leave me a comment and I will share those experiences on a future post. If you don't feel comfortable leaving a comment on here and want to be annonymous, please email me at acreativespirit1@gmail.com and I will include your thoughts and stories.