Serving Each Other

I have been hearing about serving our families here lately.  I know my first reaction was, I serve my family everyday as a stay at home mom.  I cook, clean, do laundry and dishes, help with homework, transport children, etc.  Just thinking about it make me tired.  What else could I do?!?  I need someone to serve me!  Then after a few days and some reflection, that idea is still sticking in my mind.  I had to get a different perspective.

Yes I take care of my family as a mom, as do most moms and dads out there, but I am really serving them?  When I think about serving others, such as in mission projects, it is something that I take the time out of my day for.  I get enjoyment out of helping or serving someone.  It makes a difference in their lives.

Not to downplay all the chores and responsibilities of taking care of a household and a family (b/c it is hard work people!), but I know this:
#1.  I am not always doing it with a joyful heart.  Many days I dread doing dishes or laundry, and I can't tell you how many times, I would rather be at home relaxing (yeah right!) than taking my kiddos to various activities, especially on those cold rainy days.  Not to chase rabbits. but really shouldn't everyone just cancel all activities on cold rainy days?  Those should be mandatory sit in front of the fireplace and drink hot chocolate days. I digress.
#2.  Do I take time out of my day to focus on these activities with a serving heart?  Not really.  I just get them done in between other chores and things to do.  It's one more check box on my to-do list.
#3.  Is it making a difference?  Well yes, let's be real, it makes a difference if my children have clean clothes to wear to school or that dinner is made so we aren't hungry, but is it making a difference in my families walk with Christ?

This was when I started brainstorming.  How can I serve my family beyond what I already do?  How can I turn small moments into Christ-filled ones that feed their heart?

One thing I thought of were little agape gifts.  I learned this term from the Emmaus community.  Agape describes God's unearned and undeserved love for us.  Sounds like grace to me. :)These little gifts can express that love to our children, spouses, and other family members.  If you go to Pinterest and look up agape gifts, you can find many examples of these tiny expressions on love that cost little to nothing that always have a verse or meaning attached.

Another way I thought of being able to serve my family is maybe doing something for them that is expected of them to do.  Maybe cleaning my children's rooms for them (believe me that is an act of love) or ironing my husband's work clothes (yes, I do not iron my husband's clothes - I believe that the dryer was invented, so I wouldn't have to iron).  Doing these things for them unexpectedly and then leaving a note letting them now that I love them. :)  Now I wouldn't get into a regular routine of this b/c then it can lose its meaning.  Especially with the cleaning the rooms!

A third way is to spend one on one time with each of your family members.  Giving them that time alone with you.  This is important for both kiddos and spouses!  Now here is the tricky part.  Do something they want to do, but it cannot involve tv, video games, or movies.  Something that is interactive and sparks conversation.  What?!?  You mean actual words coming out of my mouth, instead of being typed on my phone?!?  I know this is hard for some of us (myself included), but I would think that verbal communication with eye contact and interaction, are at the heart of serving someone with quality time.  Imagine going to visit someone at a nursing home or hospital and making them sit a watch tv or watch you text on your phone to others.  You would never imagine doing that!  Consider serving your family with quality time to be the same way. :)

Encourage your kiddos (and spouse) to join in.  Help younger kiddos think of ways to serve others in your home and community.  You setting the example of serving others starting in your own home is a great way to encourage your children to serve and share God's love, but also look beyond themselves.
Feel free to comment with any ideas you have for serving others in (or out) of your home!

Child-like Faith

In our Sunday School class, we have been discussing Simon Peter, and in our conversation this week, the topic of having faith like a child kept coming up.  I got a prime example of that this Sunday, along with a moment of humility.

This Sunday, our church celebrated a new mission that we have started called, Forever Families.  This ministry celebrates and supports the care of orphans through sponsorship, fostering, adopting, and any other way to care for those children who have no one else.  We had many local programs come to let us know of their organizations, as well as, international programs.  I gathered information on all the programs to look through later with my husband.  We already sponsor a little boy in Uganda, but I felt the pull to see if there was something more we could do.  My husband was home with our daughter because she woke up with fever that morning, so it was just my 10 year old son and me.  I had a ministry coordinators meeting right after church, and my son was happy so stay b/c he got to partake in the lunch that was offered.  I handed him the packet on one of the programs there, The Zoe mission.  He has been looking for something to give his money in his "Give Jar" to, and I thought he might look through and pick the $10 rabbits or something small like that.  

Well as we sat through our hour long meeting, I noticed he was reading the entire book, cover to cover.  When the meeting was over, he told me he would like to donate his "Give" money to this organization.  What he followed up with is what caught me off guard.  He told me that he wanted to take the book to his class tomorrow and challenge the other kiddos to give as well, and to see what they could collect by Friday.  He told me he would ask his teacher if he could talk to the class if they had some extra time.  Let me just say that my first instinct was to hold back my tears.  This kid gets it, and I couldn't love him more!!  I wanted to wrap him up in my arms and tell him just how awesome he truly is.  My second instinct was hesitation.  We go to public school, so I wasn't sure how he would be received or if he would even be allowed to talk about it.  I wanted to tell him maybe we should search for other ways for him to raise money, but I checked myself, took a breath, and told him I thought it was a great idea.  I did warn him that he may not be able to speak about it at school, and we would also need to figure out a way to collect the money, and he replied that he knew that, but he wanted to try anyways.

Oh how a 10 year old boy can humble me.  How could I stand in his way?  He knows that it may not be received, but he wants to try anyways.  He believes in helping others, and he really doesn't understand why anyone else wouldn't want to.  Why should I have hesitation?  I believe that as grown-ups that the "social norms" tell us it is not polite to talk about our faith, our passions for helping others even when it's not the popular thing to do, going against the grain of society, that we shut down when we are given that chance.  We are afraid of breaking the rules, offending someone, or just being looked at as weird.

I pray to have that fearless childlike faith that my son displayed for me yesterday.  I want to feel the pull of the Holy Spirit and follow it boldly despite knowing that I may face some obstacles and possibly be rejected.  How do we lose that along that way?  How do we get it back?  That is something I will have to reflect on this week.

I don't know what the outcome has been today.  I emailed his teacher last night just giving her a heads up, as well as, giving her the link to the mission, so she could see what it is.  I haven't heard back yet, so I am pretty much sitting on pins and needles until he gets home.  I know, I know. I am still learning to "Let Go and Let God."  One thing I do know is that he will not let this be a set back, if it doesn't work out.  Based on how pumped up he was last night and this morning, he will find a way to raise money for this organization.  Another thing I know is that I am blessed to be able to watch and learn from my child on how to have faith and let nothing get in the way.