"Volunbitterness" by Rich Zimmerman

"When is it going to be my turn to be appreciated?" I am sure this question has run through many minds at one time or another. Most people volunteer to help others out of the goodness of their hearts and take little thought of being recognized for their efforts. The reward is in the serving and in the good feeling that you are making a difference, that Christ is alive in your living. But even those with the best intentions have moments when resentment appears out of nowhere. Why am I here cleaning up when nobody else cared enough to stay? What am I doing wasting my life volunteering when I could be out enjoying myself? If you are like most good-hearted volunteers, you probably dismiss these thoughts as being unworthy of a good Christian. But I am convinced that God would rather have us pray these thoughts than dismiss them. God can handle our bitterness. Here's what I think a volunteer's conversation with God might sound like:

"Dear God: This really stinks. It is eleven thirty at night and I'm putting away chairs and mopping floors because nobody else volunteered to help. I'm always the one that gets stuck with the dirty jobs. Other people don't teach Sunday school and serve on endless committees and volunteer to clean up after the potluck." "You know I think maybe I'll just take a vacation from all these jobs and see what everybody thinks about that. I bet they don't even know that I'm doing all of these things. I bet they don't even care."

"I sure hope you are keeping score up there because, let me tell you, nobody seems to be keeping track down here."

Sooner or later I always come around to see that God is a very merciful God. And the truth is, I need God's mercy a lot more than I need God to keep the score. Knowing that doesn't always help. But I have found some things to do to avoid "volunbitterness."

1. When you feel like you need appreciation, look for someone else to appreciate. Sending a card to a fellow volunteer saying, "I noticed how hard you are working," can be as good or better than receiving one yourself.

   Remember your purpose. Ask yourself, "What led me to volunteer for this in the first place?" It probably wasn't for accolades that you raised your hand when they asked for volunteers. Focus on the real reason you are volunteering.

   Don't neglect self-care. Know yourself well enough to take a break when you have worked too hard, to say "no" when you need to, and to reward yourself along the way when others forget.

2. Volunteer for things that you like to do as well as for things that have to be done. People often forget that some of the most meaningful and enriching experiences are volunteer experiences. We let dollars determine value. Our society places so much emphasis on paid work that it is easy to forget how many incredible opportunities there are for volunteers. Being rich is not determined by what you have, but by what you can give away. How rich you are if you can give away your time!

Remember! Most of the good things that we experience in life come as a result of somebody volunteering. Where would the world be if people didn't take time, go out of their way, and volunteer to care and to help. When you volunteer you pass along the many good things that you have received through the volunteer efforts of caring people in the past. Volunteers make the world a better place. Keep up the good work! In Christ,