Episode 1068: Giving of Your Time

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1068 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:07] Matt & Jocelyn Woodrum: I'm Matt and I'm Jocelyn from the family life movement pocket. Yes. We challenge you to find a way to balance your work and your family. And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the inspired stewardship podcast by my friend, Scott

[00:00:24] Scott Maderer: Mader.

[00:00:25] You can find ways to volunteer by doing things like charity runs by doing things like even growing hair or a beard can be something that is a charitable raises money or raises attention for a charitable organization. So find ways to give using what you're already. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:51] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures [00:01:00] for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:12] In today's episode about developing your influence by stewarding your time. I talk with you about why part of stewarding your time is volunteering your time. I give you my top 10 tips on volunteering your time. And I also talk about why there is a benefit to doing this. Even if you think you're really just too busy as we talk about stewarding your time.

[00:01:34] Wouldn't it be great. If you could support this podcast and do it without just taking too long, it turns out. All you have to do is use inspired stewardship.com/amazon. When you're ready to make a purchase via Amazon and a small commission, we'll come back to support the show. Just that quick. If you enjoy the show, when you are ready to buy from Amazon, just use inspired stewardship.com/amazon.[00:02:00]

[00:02:01] And the truth is a lot of times when we think about stewarding our time, we think. Finding ways to make sure that we're doing the right things, that we're being more productive, that we're taking care of our family and the work and all of those things that are on our to-do list. But one of the things that I haven't necessarily really emphasize all that often about including in your time is volunteering or giving of your time to others.

[00:02:29] The truth is we need to volunteer our time. That's part of being a good steward of our time, because the blessing of the time that we have is not meant to be just for us. It's not meant to just be taking care of the needs that we have, or even the needs of our family. It's also meant to serve the wider community.

[00:02:51] It's also meant to impact the whole wider world and make it a little bit. For others [00:03:00] as well. The truth is you can often give of your time in a way that actually multiplies and is more effective than just giving over a check or dollars. One thing to think about if you work for a decent sized organization and not all of us do, but if you do, your employer probably has some sort of volunteer program, either formally or informally where they'll either.

[00:03:28] Encourage everyone to take a certain amount of time and get paid for it to actually go volunteer or perhaps wherever they can actually have some sort of program where they have like team building days where everyone goes out and volunteers for a particular organization. If you do work for a larger employer or even a smaller man, you might want to check with your employer and see how you can actually use that time that you're given.

[00:03:55] Because a lot of organizations that have these programs, they discover they're almost [00:04:00] tragically unused, and they're often not really advertised our. You also can look at organizations where you're already going and being present. If your kids go to the Y MCA, why not volunteer at that? YMCA is a coach or someone that helps out in some way.

[00:04:19] If you take your kids to a faith-based organization, why not volunteer and do some work for that organization as well, even if it's not directly with the kids, you can still find them. To volunteer your time. And part of that is because what it really is important to do is align the time that you're giving with the values and the priorities that you have, because it's important that you're giving in a way that builds the very groups that you have a heart for.

[00:04:51] You can also stop and take a step back and think about the larger needs of your specific community or the world. [00:05:00] No. I live in a rural community that has a lot of what is generally referred to as quote, working poor in it. So what are things that we can do in this community to help those that are in need?

[00:05:14] That becomes something that you can do. Of course you can think about the existing skills and abilities and what you're already good at and focus on using those things in a way. That adds value to the community around you, because that's a way of actually being very efficient and also providing a lot of help and recognize the fact that when you're volunteering, you're actually probably not just helping the organization.

[00:05:45] You're helping yourself. You're building connections. You're reaching out to others. You built a relationship with groups that often times can read. Pay you back, but not necessarily in money. [00:06:00] I include whenever you giving like this and you're giving of your time, try to not just look at your own time, but include your family, your kids, and those sorts of things as well.

[00:06:12] And recognize that you do need to be careful about volunteering and make sure you're volunteering for a reputable organization. So don't just look at something and take the first thing that you find, but actually do some research in the organization and make sure that it's one that's actually passing through.

[00:06:32] And this time that you're spending is helping the people that need the help, not just those that don't and included in that is the idea of giving of that time. Somewhat. With care you don't want to, over-give not because it's bad and there's some way you can give too much. But what I'm saying is if you give in a way that now you begin to get frustrated and burned out and hurt by [00:07:00] it, you're going.

[00:07:01] To stop doing it. I'd rather see people begin to work into giving slowly and steadily over time than just suddenly say I'm going to volunteer one day out of every week and then burn out and quit because that happens all too often. You can find ways to volunteer by doing things like charity runs by doing things like even growing hair or a beard can be something that is a charitable.

[00:07:31] Raises money or raises attention for a charitable organization. So find ways to give using what you're already doing. Your, the truth is giving can be a benefit when it comes to your time, even if you're really busy, because one of the things I've discovered over the years is when we force ourselves to take that first fruits mindset and say, I'm going to put giving time on my calendar.

[00:07:56] And just always do that. And then I'll [00:08:00] use the quote time that's left to do other things. What you find as you become more efficient with the time that's left, because it makes you pay attention to the fact that you're having a limited resource of time. Oftentimes we feel like we've got all the time in the world when the reality is we do.

[00:08:21] And so by stepping back and looking at it from the point of view of what do I have to give first and then use the time you have left as effectively as you can. It really helps you dial in on what's most important to you and get those things done. So it's really beneficial even for the ultra. This is why it's important to keep giving of your time and mind because it truly is good stewardship of your time.

[00:08:54] Thanks for listening.

[00:08:56] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship [00:09:00] podcast as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively. But act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you like this episode on the stewardship of time, be sure to sign up for our stewardship of time tips series by going to inspired stewardship.com/time or texting 4 4, 2, 2, 2.

[00:09:31] Time tips, and that'll get you our best tips on stewarding your time until next time, invest your time, your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.