15. Service

Yep, I'm thankful for service. And I'm not referring to service that people do for me (although I am very thankful for that as well). I am speaking of opportunities that I have to serve.

This is on my mind today because of an opportunity I had this morning. This weekend is homecoming weekend down here at BYU and BYUSA put on a huge pancake breakfast for everybody this morning. I was asked earlier in the week if I could help out with this, so I did.

I got to my post at 8:00 am. We started serving pancakes around 8:45 or 9:00 and finished a little after noon. My job was to squirt whipped cream on everyone's pancakes as they came by. So, yeah, I stood in one spot, squirting whipped cream for about 3 hours. It doesn't sound very exciting, but I had a great time.

It was fun seeing everyone in line. I didn't know very many of them, but that didn't matter. It was fun getting to chat briefly with some of the people coming through, and it was fun to see them get enthusiastic about the whipped cream I gave them. And it was really fun and cute to see the little kids in line. A lot of them were really shy, but you could tell they were really excited about their pancakes. Sure, pancakes are great as an adult, but don't you remember how much more special they were and a little kid?

Also, it just feels good to serve. Whether it's something as simple as serving whipped cream or something more physically demanding or requiring a greater amount of sacrifice on your part, it feels good. I came back feeling great and all around happy.