Read Time - 5 minutes
service and gratitude
On Saturday, 07.26.25, I picked up a sponge, joined a crew of volunteers from my local church, and together we spent the day offering a "$1 car wash" to strangers.
We didn’t take their $1. Instead, we gave them $1 after washing their car.
Imagine the surprise on their faces when they learned we were paying them for allowing us to wash their car.
I smiled every time I saw that look. That was the highlight for me.
What started as a simple act of community service turned into one of those life-altering mirrors, a moment of quiet reflection on what serving others truly teaches you.
Volunteers of Serve week 2025 from StoryHeights Church | Photo credit: Meadowlark
Here are 4 lessons that experience reminded me about service and gratitude:
1. The vision is always bigger than one person
Over the course of Serve Week, different people showed up to serve.
Some packed gift boxes, while others cleaned office spaces, delivered food, washed cars, and gave their time freely.
Not because they had nothing to do, but because they believed in something bigger than themselves.
The mission wasn’t about individual recognition, how influential you were, or how much money you had. It was about obedience and humility.
Lesson for you: Find a cause you believe in and show up with a heart to serve others. (through service and gratitude)
Find a cause you believe in, then show up, not for applause, but with a heart to serve.
— Vanessa Mbamarah (@vmbamarah) July 28, 2025
That’s how we build lives that matter.#BuildRegardless #QuietBuilder
2. Your life should mean something to someone else.
Every July, my birth month, I do a personal mid-year audit. I reflect on the past six months and review my plans for the next six.
During this exercise, I always ask myself one question: "How has my existence served others?”
Not just my loved ones, but others I may never meet:
• The single mom who cries each night, unsure how to provide the next meal or make her rent.
• The young boy or girl navigating life without parents, struggling with depression and trauma from abuse.
• The man in a wheelchair who lost his sight in an accident.
• The family whose child was just diagnosed with cancer and doesn’t know where to turn.
Here’s the truth:
You don’t need a title or a fat bank account to make a difference in someone’s life. Sometimes all you need is a willing heart, a little time, or simply your presence. (for service and gratitude)
Lesson for you: Your life is not just for you. Somewhere, someone is praying for what’s already in your hands.
Pause for a minute and ask yourself honestly, “How does my existence serve others, and how am I using it to live a life of impact?”
3. You’ll be misunderstood sometimes; serve anyway
Not everyone appreciated what we were doing. Honestly? We were okay with that.
We weren’t doing it for everyone. We were doing it for:
• The mom who finally had a clean car after weeks of chaos and no time for herself.
• The man who couldn’t remember the last time someone did something kind for him without expecting something in return.
• The person who decided to come to church because they felt welcomed, seen, and safe.
• The people whose names we’ll never know, but whose lives we touched, even for a moment.
The world may never fully understand your calling, and it’s okay.
Lesson for you: Don’t let the opinions of those who don’t understand your calling stop you from walking in it. Someone out there is praying for exactly what only you can give.
4. Serving others reminds you how blessed you are
One of the people whose car we washed told me he’d been recovering from acute knee pain, and he hadn’t been able to drive himself to the car wash in a long time.
Looking at his car, you could tell it needed that wash. But more than that, he needed that moment of kindness.
As I listened to him, I found myself reflecting on my own life.
I hadn’t been hospitalized in a long time, and I was in the best shape of my life.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the chaos and the noise that we forget to appreciate the simple things we’ve been given—for free!
It’s easy to forget how blessed we are until we’re reminded.
Serving others is that reminder, the kind that gently brings you back to gratitude through service.
Lesson for you: Don’t wait for a crisis to remember how blessed you are.
Final Thoughts (On Service and Gratitude)
We live in a world that constantly tells us to build for ourselves, our careers, our platforms, and our legacies.
But what if true fulfillment is found not in what we collect, but in what we contribute?
Serve Week reminded me that faith-based acts of kindness aren’t about grand gestures or public praise.
They’re about showing up for others with what you have and finding purpose through volunteering, no matter how small the act.
You may never know the full impact of your kindness. But someone, somewhere, will never forget how you made them feel.
So here’s my question for you:
If someone’s breakthrough was tied to your obedience, would you still hesitate to serve?
Or would you step into the opportunity to live a life of purpose, one small act of kindness at a time?
Your Turn
How are you showing up and serving others?
What has that experience taught you?
Share your thoughts with me👇; I'd love to hear your experience.
