“Parenting is a service-oriented vocation. The day you found out that you would have a child, you enrolled for full-time service. Your contract called for a minimum of eighteen years of service with an understanding that you would be on ‘active reserve’ for several years after that.” (Taken from The Five Love Languages of Children)
You can tell if this is your child’s primary love language by carefully listening to what they say and by being sensitive to their requests for help. You may be asking, “Does this mean that I must wait on my child like a slave?” The answer is a resounding, “NO!” Slavery is imposed, demanded, and done with reluctance. Loving service is a gift from the heart…done willingly and not under coercion. In fact, do not do for your children what they are able to do for themselves…except as a special treat. While serving our children, it is important that we also teach them how to serve themselves and others.
Here are some ideas if your child’s primary love language is Acts of Service.
· Help your child practice for their sports team, such as pitch and catch for baseball or shooting free throws for those participating in basketball.
· Sit down and help your child as they work on homework.
· Make a favorite snack when your son or daughter is having a difficult day.
· Occasionally get up half an hour early to make a favorite breakfast.
· Begin teaching the value of serving others through regular involvement together in a local community group or ministry (such as King’s Kettle”.
· Connect your child with one of your friends or family members who can help them in an area of interest such as dance lessons, soccer, piano playing, or scouting.
· Start a birthday tradition, where you make your child’s favorite meal or take them to their favorite restaurant on their birthday.
· Assist your child in fixing a favorite broken toy or bicycle. Simply taking time to repair it communicates love to a child whose love language is acts of service.
Matthew 25:40 says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” The Bible teaches that sacrificial service is one way we please God. We can be role models for our children so that they mature into adults who love and serve God by loving and serving each other.
Linda Morgan, Parish Nanny