Every year our church hosts our annual Halloween Kid’s Carnival.

A free event that is for our community. Something we’ve done for 22+ years.

It’s a great event.

Year after year thousands of people from our community come and are blessed with fun, games, and CANDY.

Over the years I’ve helped in lots of different areas:

Booth operator, greeter, shuttle driver, prize-giver-outer, and more.

Last year I tried something new.

I helped out on our parking lot crew. A tricky job. Our lot is not big enough for the crowds and we often have to divert traffic to a nearby school.

As I was parking cars (and having a lot of fun) I noticed a familiar looking vehicle show up.

The driver was a striking blonde and I almost felt bad for staring… Then I realized, oh, that’s my car and my wife driving it. And I went back to staring.

I led them to a spot and continued parking the vehicles that followed them in. All the while, keeping an eye towards my family’s car. I wanted to see what costumes the kids had chosen.

Andrea, a beautiful bumble bee, was the first one out of the car.

The first words out of her mouth when she saw me in my costume (a florescent construction vest and flashlight) will stick with me for sure.

She yelled across the parking lot, “DAD! Are you SERVING?!”

I was caught.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I answered her, “Yep, I am.”

She continued, “I knew it. You’re helping park cars aren’t you?”

“You got it.” I said with a smile.

She finished with, “Dad, I’m proud of you for serving.” Then she turned and went inside to enjoy the carnival.

I’m so glad my daughter saw me serving.

Please understand me.

I wasn’t doing it to get noticed by her or anything. I’m simply glad she saw me serving. She had been learning in her Sunday school class about serving and now she had a concrete example to remember.

Jesus probably said it best when He said:

“You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

(Matthew 20.25-28, The Message)

I want my daughter, my kids, and anyone else I influence to know that to be a great leader you must be willing to serve.

Ask yourself:

What can I do to put others first today?

Who is someone (be specific) I can serve today?

If you’re wanting to put this all into practice, then join us this Wednesday for the Kid’s Carnival.