Serving with Love Works
By Sarah Cushing
Last Saturday as part of Big Serve Day, we had the opportunity to serve at Love Works Resource Center in King of Prussia. Love Works is a nonprofit that supports the under-served in the area. The nonprofit provides needs and community resources such as food, clothing, education, and even music and art creative outlets. The team and volunteers there were welcoming, joy-filled individuals who clearly know how to love others well.
Our church group as a whole served in two main areas: the Food Pantry and the Clothing Penn. The Food Pantry area is where families can shop for donated groceries and household staples. The Clothing Penn area is where community members can shop for clothing.
We decided to bring our two oldest serve alongside us. Josh and Lili were part of the group who volunteered in the Food Pantry, sorting food, cleaning shelves, and putting together food packages. Josiah and I served with the group who volunteered in the Clothing Penn area. As a group we sorted through donated clothing items, organized them, and hung them on the racks for the community to shop.
Logistics aside, the most important direction we received that morning was simple yet so impactful: be hospitable. Greet people with a warm hello and a smile. We didn’t have to know the ins and outs of the nonprofit, and we didn’t have to know the details of what brought the community members through Love Works’ doors that day. All we had to know was that God loved them and we could be a representation of that.
For me, opportunities to serve are reminders to step outside of my daily bubble and also teach my kids there is a world beyond our own noses. The team at Love Works were so kind to give our kids special tasks and make them feel helpful and appreciated. Big Serve Day reminded me that serving others goes beyond using our personal expertise and skills. Much of serving is about showing up with a humble spirit and a willingness to love others in a God-honoring manner. It is with a humble spirit that we remember the words in 2 Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”