Serving with Children

"One of the greatest challenges we face in our hurried, self-centered lives is to follow the counsel of the Master "to do it unto one of the least of these my brethren." Take the time today to reach out to help someone less fortunate, to strengthen and lift a brother or sister in need." -Gordon B. Hinckley

I recently received a calling in my ward where I have many opportunities to serve. As I have been trying to fulfill my calling I have learned a great lesson. My one year old son and I will often go on service excursions together. On one of our walks to visit several members of the ward we had a slew of cookies we were delivering. My little boy would hand them the cookies when they came to the door (he loves cookies), and then as we would walk away I would tell him how nice it was for him to share his cookies. Even though he is young I think that he started to understand what we were doing. Once we had completed our little journey he couldn't stop saying, "How nice" and "Cookies". I think he started to grasp, just a little, what service is all about.

I have always been one to enjoy being a part of service organizations and service projects but since I have a child now I have found it harder to find time away for serving. I have found myself saying that I miss service but I don't know how to serve with a child. Through experiences like delivering cookies my son has started to teach me that service can come in small packages and that he can and is so anxious to be apart of it. My new goal is to seek out more opportunties for our WHOLE family to serve together.

If anyone has any ideas on how to serve with young children I would love to hear them.

For a few ideas on how to serve with young children click HERE.

Teaching Children about Service - to read this article click HERE.