Off-season serving
Serving is often under appreciated. Suffering is a given in serving, but let’s not make it harder than it needs to be.
Under appreciation can even help guide us to learn to serve better. If people don’t think we’re serving them much, then maybe we aren’t.
This isn’t always the case. For example, people won’t always want to hear about Jesus even though that’s exactly what they need. But other times, we really aren’t serving the best way we can, and that’s why people don’t appreciate it as much as they should.
So, we need to look for ways to become more appreciated without sacrificing the real value we’re providing and – as a bonus – without creating more work for ourselves.
Here’s one way to do this.
Off-season serving defined
Off-season serving is serving when it’s not expected: surprise serving.
It’s simple really. And with the usual level of serving that goes around, ANY serving is often off-season serving. But here’s how the name came about:
As you know, my father is a pastor. Growing up, I couldn’t get Christmas gifts for most of my friends because…
- It would cost hundreds of dollars to buy presents for everyone
- It would cost hundreds of hours to make presents for everyone
Because as part of the pastor’s family, if I gave to one, everyone would expect a gift. And especially in December, I didn’t have the money or the time to pull it off.
So I had a generally-known policy of no gifts for Christmas. But instead of giving presents for Christmas, I tried to give them to a select few throughout the year.
Enter off-season serving, serving in the seasons when it’s not expected.
Ideas for off-season serving
Giving gifts but NOT on birthdays, holidays, graduations, etc.: This is what I outlined about my gift giving. I’ve since lightened up and try to give gifts on the holidays too. But giving wrapped presents, especially wrapped in, say, Christmas paper in the middle of July, is quite a treat for both the receiver and the giver.
Creating holidays and celebrating obscure ones: This is almost the reverse of giving but not on holidays. This time, you give on a holiday, but I still count it as off-season giving because the holidays you’re “celebrating” are pretty ridiculous. It all contributes to the thrill of it. Some of these obscure “holidays” include Mr. Rogers Day, Star Wars Day, and Waffle Iron Day. Check out a ton more of these weird holidays here.
Celebrating special holidays even if they don’t apply: Celebrating Mother’s Day or Father’s Day with someone who’s not a mother or father can be exciting. Be careful with these, though: you don’t want to downplay the significance of these holidays for the people these are specifically for… like in these examples mothers and fathers.
Sending Thank You notes when someone hasn’t done anything extraordinary: Most of the time, if we send Thank You notes at all, we send them because someone’s given us something or specifically done something for us. But we can switch that up by sending Thank You notes just to thank people for who they are or even to thank them for doing something for someone else. It goes a long way.
Treating someone like they’re “sick” when they’re not: I’m sure you’ve noticed that sometimes the only time you’re treated especially well is when you’re not feeling especially well. Turn that around for other people. Make sure you’re not patronizing anyone, but try serving someone a meal in bed or take care of some of their household chores. Make their life easy for no “reason” at all. For the fun of it, you can even say, “Let’s pretend you’re sick.”
Working when you’re off the clock: This one’s scary for a lot of people, and even something many would never, ever consider. Instead of volunteering at a non-profit or something, volunteer where you work. Ask if anyone needs help for a few hours over the weekend. <<Crazy, I know.
As usual, the ideas could go on and on, only limited by your creativity. The general idea, though, is to look for the “seasons” when you’re expected to serve and then see how you can serve as if you’re in that season even when you’re not.
Now is a perfect time to get started. Now is always an off season for something.
Serving Suggestions:
(1) Identify a “season” you enjoy… or create a new one.
(2) Serve now as if you’re in that season even if you’re aren’t.