serving as a family.
Alright, doing good turns with toddlers in tow isn't always a picnic. Any job takes twice as long. They lose interest quickly. They're a hard sell when it comes to helping others, having had limited experience with the joy it brings to everyone involved. Many of the projects can mean tedious repetition. Out of the carseats, back in the carseats, out again, now in and hurry. I dreaded a canned food drive we did a few months back until we actually showed up and got to work.
Today I have been thinking about helping my kids to "do" in order to encourage them to "become."
I hope they become men (and woman) of great strength of character. Of persistence. I hope they give and give of themselves in the pursuit of worthy goals. And this hope urges me onward. This hope has me up early in the morning to bake goodies for us to deliver. This hope drags me out of the house when I would rather stay home.
Duke and I have been working on getting ourselves out of our comfort zone. Here we are out of college, he's been working for a couple of years as an accountant and is now a licensed CPA, and we are content. We keep reflecting on the thoughts we had a few years ago...
1. When our kids are a little older and can understand we'll read the scriptures to them daily...
2. When things have settled down with steady work, we'll find a way to donate more to our church's humanitarian effort...
3. When we have a little more time, we'll serve more in the community...
Well here we are. Our kids are older. We're settled. And we fill our extra time with loafing. So the last few days we've been trying a little harder to "do" so that we can "become."
Their favorite service is to doorbell ditch treats. They love to be sneaky. They love to hide behind bushes and run giggling to the car for a quick getaway (as quick as it can possibly be with all those carseat straps!)
Today we made ornaments from their hand-prints so that later this week we can visit a nursing home and tell everyone "Merry Christmas." We've been practicing shaking hands and asking small-talk questions. I'm pretty excited about the experience and a little nervous about taking four kids to a care-facility on my own.
The potential blessings are worth the risk of a hectic outing.
Today I have been thinking about helping my kids to "do" in order to encourage them to "become."
I hope they become men (and woman) of great strength of character. Of persistence. I hope they give and give of themselves in the pursuit of worthy goals. And this hope urges me onward. This hope has me up early in the morning to bake goodies for us to deliver. This hope drags me out of the house when I would rather stay home.
Duke and I have been working on getting ourselves out of our comfort zone. Here we are out of college, he's been working for a couple of years as an accountant and is now a licensed CPA, and we are content. We keep reflecting on the thoughts we had a few years ago...
1. When our kids are a little older and can understand we'll read the scriptures to them daily...
2. When things have settled down with steady work, we'll find a way to donate more to our church's humanitarian effort...
3. When we have a little more time, we'll serve more in the community...
Well here we are. Our kids are older. We're settled. And we fill our extra time with loafing. So the last few days we've been trying a little harder to "do" so that we can "become."
Their favorite service is to doorbell ditch treats. They love to be sneaky. They love to hide behind bushes and run giggling to the car for a quick getaway (as quick as it can possibly be with all those carseat straps!)
Today we made ornaments from their hand-prints so that later this week we can visit a nursing home and tell everyone "Merry Christmas." We've been practicing shaking hands and asking small-talk questions. I'm pretty excited about the experience and a little nervous about taking four kids to a care-facility on my own.
The potential blessings are worth the risk of a hectic outing.
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