The Most Significant Part
Do you want to know what the most significant part of the NeighborLink process is for the volunteer?
It’s project selection process.
It’s hands down the most important part of the process because of the weight and power of making a choice. What’s actually taking place inside of the project selector is an internal decision to do something significant with their time, influence and resources, which we don’t naturally want to give away. Sometimes it’s a subtle decision and sometimes is a paralyzing decision that takes weeks to make and completely depends on where that volunteer is mentally, physically and spiritually.
I would say that it’s even a matter of making a decision to embrace the fact that what may need to or will change the most is ourselves. We know that whatever we’re willing to offer is no longer ours anymore once we make the choice. This is a tough decisions, especially with all the messaging around us that points us right back to “me."
In the process of offering our time and resources we’re making a submission to the process in which we may not be able to control. It’s in this submission that really neat things can happen.
We experience freedom, generosity, and gain an awareness of something new. Sometimes we even experience pain, frustration, and burden depending on the situation. If we enter into the suffering of others, chances are we’ll encounter feelings of suffering of our own. If we enter into the joy of others, it will lift us up in ways we haven’t felt in a long time. And more times than not, we may not have strong feelings in one direction over the other and we’ll be disappointed that it didn’t meet our emotional expectations. We’re pretty demanding people.
What we fear the most is the reality that no one can predict the experience we’ll have, not even ourselves. Even after 6 years of serving at NeighborLink, I can’t fully predict what my experiences will be when I choose a new project. I know more than I did when I first started, but each choice is a new adventure with an unpredictable outcome that requires an openness to fully embrace the experience.
I can tell you that you’ll never regret making the choice to give of yourself on the behalf of others. It will always be hard to choose and you’ll never fully be able to predict the experience.
If you’re truly looking for life changing experiences, it will require YOU to choose and take the initiative. No one will ever be able to choose for you and meet your expectations. This is why the NeighborLink experience is shaped the way it is. You are the very best person to choose what you want to do, when you want to do and how you want to get it done. Most importantly, we know you can do it and are here for you when you do to help however we can.
I believe God has designed it this way and is central to the Gospel. It’s our decision to follow Him with our lives, not for Him to pave the path to easy street. He calls us to follow Him regardless of where He desires to take us or where we’d like to go. I’m learning that it’s better to not fight it and join the journey.
Does the power of choice resonate with you? Have you felt that tension when it came to making an unclear decision on how to spend your time? I’d love to hear your stories.
