Joelle's reflection: out and about in NYC

The past two days have been very different from our first day of service in New York. The first day we we're giving food to shelters and working through a known organization. But yesterday and today we went out on our own to feed the homeless and do random acts of kindness. We didn't go through any organization, it was just us and the people we were serving. I think that going out on our own really helped me look at serving in a different perspective. We didn't need anyone to give us directions or show us what to do. We were able to make our own decisions on who we wanted to serve and it made it feel much more personal. It made me think of our community in a different way. Serving is not about poor people or homeless people or people in third world countries. Serving is about making a guy in a suit smile because you bought his coffee at Starbucks. Serving is about the surprised look on a woman's face when you hand her a flower and an encouraging note. Serving is about doing the unexpected. Because when we do the unexpected it causes others to think. They wonder why we are doing what we are doing, they become curious. Sparking curiosity in others by serving could push them to go out and serve. It's amazing to think that something we did might have changed someone's perspective on serving and changed someone's perspective on the world.