I just got back from New Orleans.  I spent my Spring Break gutting out houses and working for Habitat for Humanity.  My arms, back, hands, and legs hurt.  I’m sunburned, and I got a sinus infection from breathing so much dust. 

But it was SO worth it.

 Many people would question my sanity about now.  Who in their right mind would give up Spring Break to work in New Orleans?  Shouldn’t I have been on the beach or at home spending time with my boyfriend and family?  I get asked this question a lot.

 But so do the other 90 or so people that were in my group from the University of Alabama who gave up their Spring Breaks to serve.

 Our answer to these questions is simple.  We are Christians, and we believe to serve Christ, we have to serve others.  We believe in the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31 NIV).

 James 2:14-17 is another good one.  It basically says that if you have faith but no deeds, then your faith is dead.  If you see a brother without clothes and food, and you say to him, “I hope you are warm and have plenty to eat,” then what good is it?

 Even if you are not a Christian, then this principle makes a lot of sense.  If your house was destroyed by a natural disaster, you would want others to help you.  So why not help the people of New Orleans when they need it?

 We should all be living our lives to make the world a better place to live, but I propose more.  I suggest that every person who is capable should take one week of his or her life a year and go somewhere, not necessarily New Orleans or even the US, and help.  Dedicate a week, that’s one out of 52, strictly to serving others.

 The help can be physical – gutting out houses, cleaning up yards, building new houses – and/or spiritual – leading backyard Bible clubs, running a Vacation Bible School, or singing at a nursing home.

 If everyone gives one week a year to someone besides his or her self, the world would be a cleaner, happier, friendlier place to live.