You see it everywhere you look, buying clothes or shoes that donate to people in need overseas, huge nonprofit organizations sponsoring children, mission trips to everywhere and anywhere across the globe. So often we think of service as deliberate acts of kindness through our generosity or mere consumerism, our financial aid or our part in projects that take place away from home. All of these are important causes, worthy of help, but there is also plenty of need in the people and places right around you.

Noble organizations that work to feed kids around the city you live in, helping young women in need of pregnancy care, striving to teach young people to work hard and live well, ALL in your hometown. There are so many hurting people in the world that need our love, our service, but we can't forget the people around us. In order to serve our communities and our world, we don't always have to give our money our donations, but we can give our time and effort into making meaningful relationships that could be just as impacting.

We throw around the word "service" in such a way that makes it normalize the act to mean service involving our contributions to people in groups in places OTHER than where we live. But why can't we also just "serve" our communities, our towns, our neighbors, by just being there making conversation and building relationships. Maybe it's not the things people need, but love and presence to help them through the hard times. Seeking our service in other places isn't always as necessary or important as the needs of the people that you see everyday. It is so important that we slow down and recognize that "service" isn't something to check off a list, but a way of living selflessly and to show light to others.