This summer {well, ok – often}, we’ve really been stressing the importance of service with our kids. It’s something we long to instill in each of their hearts and we try to talk about it a lot. This week our children started VBS at a local church and at the end of the first day, the parents were invited to sit down and hear the kids sing a song they had been working on.
The title of the song? Go Serve Our World.
The kids have apparently been listening to us {oh, hooray!!}, because as soon as they ran to meet me, they were telling me all about how the theme was service – and “WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THAT AT HOME! ISN’T THAT FUNNY?” {And yes, they were yelling. And it was very loud. They may have been very excited…or truthfully, just always loud}.
Our ideas for service and helping out in our community have required a little bit of imagination and creativity in some ways, but we have come up with a list that we are working on: helping older people {including grandparents} with yard work and weeding, assisting during VBS {older girls}, babysitting for moms, helping an older couple with their horse farm and mucking stalls. We’re also going to bake cookies for others, make a few meals for someone who is sick, and…well, the kids are still working on our list!
Some of the ideas may not be as fun as others, but sometimes serving others means we have to get a little messy, right? The point is our heart attitude and being willing to serve.
ACTS: A Call to Serve from Adventures in Odyssey
This summer, Adventures in Odyssey is prompting children {and families} to serve others around them, both near and far. Children can win some GREAT prizes, including a missions trip to Costa Rica!! You can find out more details at www.whitsend.org/acts. Families can also download
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an ACTS “Summer of Service” kit here: A.C.T.S. Summer of Service Kit
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a FREE podcast on the Business of Busyness
Will you join in? Grab a copy of the Weekly Service ideas, print it off, and get the ideas flowing as a family.
A FREE eBook and an Imagination Station Books 1-3 Giveaway!
Our family really enjoys listening to Adventures in Odyssey {lately, it’s been something the girls have enjoyed listening to before bedtime}. Our summer reading also includes their newer Imagination Station books, a wonderful chapter-book early reader series. If you’ve been curious about the books, be sure to check out and download a FREE e-book of Imagination Station #1: Voyage with the Vikings!
AND – Adventures in Odyssey is giving one of my readers a set of the first three Imagination Station books – Voyage of the Vikings, Attack at the Arena, and Peril in the Palace. To enter, just follow the directions on the Rafflecopter widget below.
Giveaway is open to US residents only or those with a US mailing address. Giveaway ends Friday, June 21, 2013 at 11:59pm.
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