Recently, I've been volunteering in the children's ministry at my church.  When I first filled out the volunteer form, I was really excited about it.  The first time I went in, I was nervous, but ultimately felt good about it by the time I was done.  The next time, I wasn't really looking forward to it because I hadn't been feeling well all weekend, but I did my best to enjoy myself and be a good volunteer.  This last week, Saturday rolled around and I was feeling a little unmotivated again.  I'm not sure why, but I think I just wanted my Sunday to myself, to do what I wanted to do.  When I woke up this morning I had the attitude that I would just stick it out, after all, I had only signed up to volunteer for one more week after this one.

So, I'm sitting in church, knowing that once the service was over, I would be heading to the volunteer check-in center.  I started to feel very "unChristian" by being so negative about giving up an hour of my time to God.  I realized that my "stick it out" attitude was not going to make me enjoy serving as a volunteer.  I should be so glad that I have the opportunity to spend some time with some great kids!  I had to change my attitude and decide to be excited about volunteering.

As I walked to the check-in with a new attitude about serving, I felt great.  I made two new 3 year old best friends.  And when I was getting ready to head home, the program coordinator stopped me to talk about me applying to become a regular volunteer in the children's ministry.  She told me how much she appreciated my help and how it would be great if I were to become a regular volunteer.

As I haven't yet decided if I'll be coming home from school on Sundays to go to church, or if I'll go to church on campus, I'm not sure if I'll be able to volunteer weekly, but I have the application, and I'm praying about it. 

Next week, I'm determined to be excited about serving God through volunteer work.  Thanks, God, for today's wake up call!

I think that when we make an active choice to change our outlook on something, it can have a great effect on how things turn out. 

When you aren't exactly looking forward to something, how do you change your attitude?