My social media and news feeds are full of death, anger, division and fear. One might argue that that is usually the case. However, the news the past few months has left me feeling especially sad and powerless. While I haven’t shared any opinions or insights on social media regarding these tragic events and divisive debates, I’ve read a lot of posts from friends, celebrities and journalists.

I’ve seen these bits of advice: pray for our nation, get off social media, and spend time in nature.

All of those are great ideas. However, one post I saw on LinkedIn really stood out. An acquaintance of mine wrote that she chose to respond to the discouraging events of the world by adopting a dog who was set to be euthanized soon. She spent hours dog-proofing her house, invested in training for the dog and purchased food and supplies for him. She reminded her audience that we all can make a difference, even if it’s just to one person (or dog!) at a time. 

It was a great reminder that while we don’t have the ability to save the whole world or solve all of its problems, we aren’t meant to sit around doing nothing either. Each person has unique gifts, knowledge and connections he or she can use to serve other people. It’s easy to become discouraged and believe that just because we can’t solve the big problems in the news, we can’t do anything. But that simply isn’t true; we all can do something.

I challenge you to get to work in your home and community. Teach your children how to be disciples of Christ. Encourage your teachers. Send your friend flowers. Donate to a cause you care about. Adopt a pet from the Lexington Humane Society. Sign up for Serve Saturday at IBC. Just pick one thing you can do to serve one person in your home or community this week. 

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

by Melissa Landon Schnell

Melissa is an editor at automation.com, a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, a cyclist, a book lover, and a grammar enthusiast. She lives in Lexington with her husband Daykin, dog Zoey, and cat Scooter.