Category: Service

Everyone has a story. Most stories are richer and more fascinating than we can ever imagine. I will never forget talking to a 90 something year old lady at church one day and discovering she had been in the Palace of the Shah of Iran and had tea with him and his family. This sweet little old lady in Georgia had taken tea with a historical figure in another country? If I remember correctly, she even gave him some godly advice while she was there!

Unfortunately, most people’s stories are lost. Either they don’t think anyone would care or they are forgotten or the memories die with the person. Sadly, many of the people who think their lives have no value would be shocked to learn how much the choices they made and the experiences they had can change how others choose to live their lives.

Continue reading Memories Service Project for Teens

Often, it’s the simplest things which help people the most. Years of working with people in countries with unclean tap water, homeless people in the U.S. and even foster children as they move from home to home, have taught me personal care items are an urgent need in many places.

It shocked me to learn the number of diseases and deaths which could be prevented in many countries if the people had easy access to soap. Children moved into foster care often arrive with little more than the clothes on their back to homes who may have only realized they were coming a few hours before. The homeless in this country are often afraid to go to shelters where they could make use of bathing facilities and do the best they can in public restrooms.

The solution is as simple or as complicated as you want to make it and is perfectly suited to be a service project for young children to teens. Buy clear bags from a craft store or use large zipper bags. (Clear will make sure the people you are serving don’t have to worry about customs or others opening the bags.) Fill them with personal care items.Bagging the items so each bag serves one person makes it so much easier for the people you are serving to hand them out to those who need them.

Continue reading Service Project for Kids to Help the Homeless, Foster Children and More

Knitting is a great craft to teach young people. A simple knit stitch is easy to learn and the double needles make it easier to create stitches of consistent tension. If you watch for sales or yard sales, it is easy to pick up knitting needles and yarn for very little money. With or without adding a purl stitch to the knitting knowledge of the kids and teens you are teaching, they can do several service projects to help those who are homeless, do not have housing and clothing that keep them adequately warm, or a host of other things.

The simplest of course is the knit stitch scarf. Binding on 16 or twenty stitches and then doing five or six feet of knit rows before binding off, allows a young person to practice knitting and see quick results. The scarf can be donated to homeless shelters or assuming it is legal in your town, wrapped around a pole or bench in an area where homeless or poor people may notice it. Make sure to attach a note explaining the scarf was made for anyone who needed it and add a scripture or words of encouragement (check local ordinances for legality of leaving abandoned scarves around town and don’t include any personal identifying information!).

The wonderful thing about knitting is that once your students become more confident in their craft, it creates a warm familial environment for chit-chatting as they knit. This gives you a comfortable time and place to encourage your students to open up to you about their struggles, successes and problems. It also gives you ample time to respond with godly advice, which somehow doesn’t seem as threatening when given over clacking knitting needles.

If you don’t know how to knit, but want to work with a group of young people, ask around. Many women are more than happy to share their knowledge for free with newbies. In fact, I finally learned to knit by attending a mother-daughter knitting club a neighbor had in her house once  a week for one summer.

Once your students become more advanced, there are tons of free patterns online that can have them knitting blankets for foster children, wash cloths for soup kitchens, caps for preemies and much more. There are even multiple sites requesting knitted donations of various things to be used in serving others.

God has gifted us in many ways. Even though your students may never become master knitters, they can use the knowledge they have to serve others. Who knows, they may even learn some godly advice while they are knitting with you – and that’s always a good thing.

 

If you had asked me the talents I was trying to nurture in my then toddler, the answer would probably have been “walking, talking and potty training”. You probably have similar aspirations for your children. Sometimes when our children are young, we get so caught up in meeting their basic needs of diapers, feeding and napping, we forget these are growing people with special gifts already given to them by God.

Often instead of helping our kids find the natural talents God may have blessed them with, we fall into peer pressure parenting. Peer pressure parenting will tell you every preschooler needs to play soccer or T-ball or learn to swim. Peer pressure parenting insists you enroll your tots in all day preschool five days a week so they can be “socialized” and taught important skills to prepare them for kindergarten. Peer pressure parenting, although well-intentioned, may not be in the best interest of your child.

Continue reading Developing Talents in Toddlers and Preschoolers