Plans

This December, I took some time and made some plans.  I wanted this December to be full of service. I wanted us to be thinking more about helping others than we were about what we wanted to get for Christmas.  We had something to do each day...some were small and some were bigger.  Some of them we didn't end up doing because we couldn't fit them in. It wasn't perfect. Plans didn't always work out the way I wanted.  Sometimes the boys were grumpy and sometimes I was too.  But, as I focused on serving, the Spirit guided me to where service was needed.  My eyes were opened to people that needed things....and, really, they were probably things I should have seen before.

Here are a few things that we did...

Hot Chocolate Stand

I completely stole this idea from my sister, Betsy.  She did this with her kids last year and I knew we had to do it too.  We made a little invitation and delivered them to the houses nearby.  People could come and get a cup of hot chocolate from our hot chocolate stand.  The price? One can of food.  I was so grateful to those neighbors who came out and braved the freezing temperatures! It was a fun excuse to get outside and socialize AND we got a laundry basket full of food that we donated to the local food pantry.  We had marshmallows, chocolate chips and peppermint chips that people could add to their cup.  Yum!

These cute girls were huddled together to stay warm.  

Actually, it was more to keep....

 .....HER warm!!

 

Neighbor Gifts

We made mini loaves of bread and delivered them to neighbors.  Abby made the cute tag for me!

Quarters

This was a simple and fun one.  We taped quarters with a little note ("This one's on us! Merry Christmas!") to gum machines around town.

We Love our Dad

One day, we made a big sign "We <3 a="a" and="and" at="at" baggie="baggie" car="car" dad="dad" e="e" for="for" he="he" him="him" his="his" in="in" it="it" kendall="kendall" left="left" nbsp="nbsp" of="of" on="on" our="our" p="p" put="put" s="s" seat="seat" too.="too." treats="treats" up="up" was="was" while="while" window="window" work.="work.">

One of my other favorite things we did I don't have a picture of.  We had to go to Wal Mart one night for an errand.  For our service, we were going to buy a pack of gum for our cashier.  Kendall had to work late, so I had to do this whole errand without him.  Wal Mart in December with 4 little boys....they were wild and I was frustrated.  When we were checking out, I remembered about the gum.  Brigg helped me pick out a pack.  After we paid, I pulled the pack of gum out of our bag and handed it to the cashier and said, "We actually got this for you!".  She was genuinely shocked. She just stared at me and slowly reached for the gum..."For me? Really?".  I just chuckled and said, "Yeah! Merry Christmas!"  She said "thanks" as we walked off.  This was SO simple! It took ZERO extra minutes of my life and cost all of one dollar. But, it meant something to that cashier. I think it brightened up her busy shift at work.  And the experience reminded my frustrated self to breathe, smile and keep perspective.

I'm so grateful for this little experiment in service.  I hope my kiddos learned something as well. I think we'll do it again next year. And, try to SEE where I'm needed a lot more throughout the year.