Service- My Passion

by Sarah

For the last few days I have been losing sleep trying to figure out what to post on our team blog as my passion. I think I'm a pretty passionate person- not in the sense of ... intimate or in bed kind passion... but meaning that I am just enthusiastic, or passionate, about so many things. I would make a great salesperson for any product that I love, such as coffee or a country I've traveled to. If you know me, you are well aware of my obsession with kids- this could mean kids I know or kids I just pass by on the street and fawn over. Another passion of mine is traveling. Ever since I stepped foot off the ground here in the USA , I became in love with adventure & travel. Since I left the country initially, my passion with traveling has extended to long term living abroad. During the Fall of my Sophomore year, I questioned whether the major I entered college with was right for me. I began my education at Messiah College seeking a degree in Elementary Education. It was during the first semester of being a Resident Assistant to Freshmen girls in my floor I discovered that, though I love children, my passion is more in helping people (or little people) on a deeper, more counseling like, level. Ever since I was little, my parents instilled in me the value caring for others. My personal values in my faith as well as the ones I had grown up with all equated with the field of social work. This whole long story is getting somewhere- don't stop reading... so given the strengths that God has given me (encouragement, mercy, compassion) along with my passions: children, traveling, relationships, and social work, I could say that God has given me a passion of service. In every one of my interests, I have incorporated service into it- traveling on missions trips and studying abroad working at the orphanage, working at Kids in Crisis ( a therapeutic crisis shelter for kids), or whatever it may be, it always seems to be wrapped around the idea of serving others. At Messiah, we learned about being servant leaders- a very interesting concept and one which I hope to someday accurately emulate.

Looking back, it is evident how God has had a hand in my life through the roads he has guided me on- helping on Meals-on-Wheels with my dad as a young child, the activities I took interest in in high school, working at KIC starting in high school, the college I chose, missions trips, studying abroad in Lithuania and working at the orphanage, choosing social work as my major. It all seems so obvious how they are all connected when I look back at the span of my life. I have been called to serve- whether it be my friends, neighbors (next door or across the world), or family. Seeing that my passion is in serving others, I know that I will find the right opportunities (and the right opportunities will find me) to live out this passion on the road trip. It will be fascinating to see how it all plays out over time (as it always does...)