Practicing to Serve

First let me apologize for the delay... time get away from me and the promised post didn't happen!

How do we make service a lifestyle? I suppose that the answer to this is to just practice it! There are so may examples of the things in our lives that we practice to have incorporated in our lives.

One of the areas that doesn't come as naturally for me is in the area of my relationships with men. For a number of reasons, viewing men as a serving opportunity brings up a lot of defenses and excuses. I want so much to - when God's timing comes - be a great wife. I have learned through much observation that most of what makes a great wife is an attitude and lifestyle of servanthood. Notice I didn't say servitude! I want to tred very carefully here because this can be totally misconstrued... however stay with me and hopefully I can clearly communicate what is in my heart.

I have often said that sometimes there are multiple ways to fulfill the call of God on our lives. That if there is a hope deferred or a waiting for something, if we break down the core values of that hope deferred we can often find another way to meet the same end. The same is true with servanthood. My hope deferred is that of being a wife. I would be remiss if I didn't take this "in the meantime" opportunity to practice so that when the time is right I am not stumbling through serving my husband.

So what's a single girl to do? I have decided that as far as it depends on me, and within the boundaries of propriety and integrity, I want to serve the single men around me in a variety of ways, and at the same time, practice servanthood.

I can serve them by always being kind, always honouring them
I can serve them by setting up safe boundaries
I can serve them by ensuring that my conduct in dress, speech and action always errs on the side of modesty and caution
I can serve them by EXPECTING their best from them
I can serve them by encouraging them
I can serve them by feeding them! :-)
I can serve them by watching out for them in situations that might be compromising
I can serve them by providing advice and counsel regarding women (and that we like to have doors opened for us!)
I can serve them by praying for them
I can serve them by nudging them toward godliness, chivalry, and integrity

In all of these ways, I can invest in them with their best interest at heart. It is my desire to model for these brothers in Christ what a Godly woman is like to be around so that as they seek out the woman of their dreams, they are at full strength because they are topped up with honour and respect and the knowledge of how to be the best they can be. As well, I want to raise their expectations, to have them know how it feels to be treated well so that if someone treats them poorly they might think "this isn't what I want, even my friend Laura, who is like my sister, treats me better than this!! "

Often, our culture allows us to expect less of ourselves and especially the men around us. As a result, often there is nothing for them to strive towards. It is my earnest desire to change this because I know-and have experienced- that people in general, and men specifically ALWAYS rise to the expectations we have of them. I have decided quite simply to expect nothing but the best from the men around me. In that way, I can serve them, and practise what I want to have become a lifestyle.