Simplifying Christmas: Early Planning

Okay, so it has been a little while but this has been occupying my thoughts for the past while.  I love the holiday season. Thanksgiving leading into Christmas.  Cheerful music.  Giving.  Serving. Family.  It is a unique and wonderful time of year.  But sometimes it slips away from me and thus my family.  The hustle and bustle of shopping and shopping and more shopping amidst mad house stores and crowds and blah!  Not what I call fun or cheery or wonderful.  And then you have the heaps of presents under the tree and a moment or two to stop and think about what it is really all about and then back to the gifts. Worldliness.  More.  Wants. Greed.  Stress.  Lack of family time.  Ahhh!

Not this year.  I want change.  I want simple.  I want time with family. Time to serve.  Time to give. Time to ponder.

I have had some thoughts on how this might take place but no firm determinations.  Shopping done by Thanksgiving.  And even then much less shopping.  Less gifts but simple, fun, perfect ones. My thoughts are churning. 

How do you keep Christmas simple?  How do you focus on Jesus Christ and the special day of his birth rather than the gifts under the tree?  How do you keep your family away from the gimmees and more happy to serve and give?

Serve with Me in June

A little bit back I wrote a post about the efforts to serve more with my children.  Here are the plans for this month so feel free to join right in:

1 - We are writing letters to or drawing pictures for those in our ward who are currently serving in the military.  The plan is to have the letters/pictures reach them by the 4th of July.

2 - We are doing a thing I decided to call "Chores for Cans". This means that our kids will be doing work around the house or other tasks (what your children do will be completely up to you).  You gotta love that right!  The idea is this:  Kids do chores (or whatever it is you need or want them to do) and they earn cans of food (really anything non-perishable works) to give to those who are in need.

It is up to each Mom to decide how often they want to give cans, what earns a can, etc.  You may choose to have them earn money and then go to the store to buy the cans with whatever was earned or you may choose to just give them an actual can and let them create a stack as the weeks go by. 
I love the idea that the cans are not just being given by each family but EARNED by each child.  Who knows you may see your kids asking for extra chores just so they can help out.
We are going to deliver the cans to our Bishop who will deliver it to some families in our ward who are in need. 

Please join right in and do this where you live or if you already have some Summer Service Plans we'd love to hear your ideas.

Happy Serving!

Do you want to serve with me....and my kids...and my neighborhood?

Then come right along.  I knew you'd say yes. :)

So I recently started a little service group of moms and their kidlets in our neighborhood.  After Conference I felt like I needed to serve more, serve more in general, but mostly that I needed to serve more along side my children.  So that was my plan and then one night as I was reading my scriptures a thought popped into my little head that said something like, "hey, why not make it a group effort" and then with some teetering back and forth on the idea I finally succumbed and our service group was born.  It has taken over my brain for a while and finally I feel like things are falling into place.  Whew!

Then you see...a new idea came to me and I thought hmmm why not bring the whole blogging world (well the miniscule portion of that world who actually peeks at this blog) along and see what we can do.   So of course this will take a lot of initiative on your part since you don't actually live near me but if you want to follow along and do something similar in your area then please join us.  I will periodically post things that we are doing here and if it is something that would work for you and your family then please serve away and let us know how it goes.

Our current service opportunity is making a tape for an elderly Sister in our ward who is unable to attend church due to health issues.  She spends her Sundays listening to and watching Conference and other Church materials. The children will be leaving short messages and singing her primary songs on a tape.  We will then deliver it to her as a group.   I am already super excited to bring her our creation, I think she will love it.  I am almost giddy about it. 

This one is still on.  So if you know of an elderly person in your area who could use a visit, a card, a treat, or maybe even a tape make an effort over the next few weeks to make their day.  Then come back and share your warm service fuzzies. :)

Isn't service fun?!?

Did You Know That...

...there are opportunities to serve the Church online.  In February I taught a lesson on service in Relief Society and while studying I found this great site that is linked to lds.org called Helping in the Vineyard. 

"This Web site provides access to volunteer service opportunities of the LDS Church. Explore how you can contribute by browsing opportunities." You can do things like evaluate Church documents or participate in  indexing for family history, among a few others. 

What a great and simple way to serve right in our own homes. I hope you'll check it out!

What Matters Most

A few days have gone by since the passing of my wonderful Grandpa. He was a very good man. He was so concerned with everyone around him. He was always so selfless and loving. Countless times I received checks in the mail from him for no reason at all when I needed them the most. He was so in tune to the Spirit. Although he was old in age his death came suddenly and unexpectedly. I will miss him.

With his passing and the timely watching of this video I have been drawn to reflect upon "what matters most". Just now I sit here thinking of my Grandpa, listening to President Monson's words as I type, along with the wonderful sound of my young family in the background and am reminded so profoundly of what matters most.

Let us always remember "what is important and what is not." Let us show our loved ones how much we love and appreciate them. Let us cherish them.

Seek and Give

I just had to pass this information on. Someone I know and love has created a site called SeekAndGive.com "where you can help generate donations for charities by searching the Internet."

The search engine is powered by google and all you have to do is use their page to "search the web and make a difference."

Here is an example from the site of how it works: "As little as 100 searches a month by you can generate $3.50 for charities that's $42.00 a year with just an average of 3 searches a day! Imagine if you have 10 friends doing the same, that's $420 a year and if they have 10 friends that's $4,200 a year and 1000 friends is $42,000 a year and 10,000 friends is $420,000 a year to charities and as little as $20 can put a child into grade school for a year, with a set of school clothes and school supplies! So tell your friends and family and start searching and let the giving begin!"

They also suggest to make it easier to remember to use this search engine to "BookMark Us and make SeekAndGive.com your Home Page and if you have a blog or website link to us."

There are three charities that have already been recommended but you can recommend specific charities that you would be interested in the money being donated to as well by visiting the Seek and Give Blog.

I think this is such a great idea and such a simple way to give by doing something we all do so often. I hope you'll give it a try and pass the information on to others you know.

Ought Thoughts

This last Sunday we had some great talks in my ward. Sometimes full talks stick out to me and sometimes little bits here and there get me thinking. This time it was a small moment in a talk but it has me thinking.

One of the speakers mentioned a seminar or a conference he went to years ago where Steven Covey was the keynote speaker. One of the things that Steven Covey talked about was "Ought Thoughts". He was speaking to business men and women on how to be successful. He told them that when they have a thought come to them like "I ought to do this" or "I ought to do that" they should do it and if they did they would have greater success. Well, I think this flows perfectly into all of our personal life businesses.

I often have quick thoughts come to my mind such as I ought to drop by and bring that person a treat or I wonder how so-and-so is doing I ought to give them a call, but do I always listen to my "Ought Thoughts", NO!

Now in this case he used the term "Ought Thoughts" and sometimes that may be all that they are but more often than not I think those thoughts are promptings from the Holy Ghost. If you ever have a thought to do something and that something is good, DO IT! There is no need to question if it is a prompting or not if it is a worthwhile, wholesome, and helpful thought.

I think that often these types of thoughts are fleeting or are simply a quick thought that can be lost. I know that I have these types of thoughts but I also know that I often dismiss them and soon forget them.

I challenge us all to listen to these promptings, these impressions, these "Ought Thoughts" and to urgently follow through or promptly write them down. And I believe that if we do this we will have greater fulfillment and success in our lives and we will come to understand and hear the promptings of the Holy Ghost more frequently and more fully.

True Service Brings Love

Image Credit

This last Sunday I was asked to share an experience that related to the topic "Leaders in the Lord's Kingdom Love those they Serve". I quickly was reminded of this simple yet profound experience I had while in college. So I shared it on Sunday and thought I would share it here.

I was doing my student teaching in a preschool setting. At the beginning I was to help out here and there but mostly observe the teachers and how the class was run. There was one particular boy named Simon in the class that was the little "trouble-maker", every class seems to have at least one. :) He caused some frustration to all of us teachers, understandably I thought. But as I continued to watch I began to notice that the only attention this little boy got was negative. When hearing others speak to him it would always begin with a don't, stop, no, etc. It almost seemed to me that a few of the teachers quite certainly dis-liked and almost despised having this little boy in the class.

The Spirit pricked my heart and guided to me to know what to do. I was guided in knowing what to say to this little boy and how to react in certain situations. I made a commitment with myself that I would make a very big effort to focus on the good things that Simon did, even if it was as simple as standing in line for 30 seconds or following a direction given.

It did not take long for this little boy to change and to change a lot. He began sitting in circle time. He began picking up after himself. He stopped hitting the other children. He became my little buddy. He started wanting to be around me all of the time and sought for my approval and praise. He did not become perfect -he still tested me and the other teachers but he improved drastically.

Although he changed, the more profound change may have been in myself. I like the other teachers started out quite frustrated and irritated with Simon. He made it difficult to teach. But as I saw the good in him and spent my time focusing on it by giving praise, compliments, and little acts of service I began to love this little boy. I grew so far from frustrated that I cared very deeply for him.

Soon after all of this took place I found out that Simon would be moving. It was a sudden move and I remember feeling a little distraught about the whole idea. I hadn't come into my student teaching expecting to create such an incredibly strong bond with anyone and suddenly my best little man was going to be gone. I remember I cried every day for about a week.

I know that has we serve others and as we see the potential in others we can grow to love them and we can grow to see them more as our Heavenly Father sees them. I also know that as we lead through love, service, and expectations others will have a greater desire and determination to be better.

Our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ are perfect examples of this. They love us and serve us and have great expectations of us. When we can see that and feel that love we truly can and should have a greater desire to be better and do more.

I hope that we all will strive to look for the good in others - in our spouses, in our children, in our neighbors, in our fellow church members, in strangers - and strive to serve them and buoy them up. I know that has we do so they will have a greater desire to follow our examples and become better and we will have a heightened ability to love more fully. I also know that as we serve and gain a greater capacity to love we will feel the love of our Savior and draw closer to Him.

Do any of you have experiences where service brought greater love?

Give Joy To Everyone This Christmas: Give of Yourself

In the First Presidency message for this month, President Monson talks of the opportunities there are for giving of ourselves and spreading joy:

"Times change; years speed by; but Christmas continues sacred. In this marvelous dispensation of the fulness of times, our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved."

As I watched the video (link below) and looked at the faces of people from all walks of life, from all over the world, I felt a great connection with them. We are all Children of God. We are all important. We all have needs. And we all can give of ourselves to make someone else's day or month a little brighter, a little bit more joyous.

My hope is that we will all find opportunities to serve and to give of ourselves during this Christmas season and throughout this next year. My hope is that we will remember our Savior - that we will remember what He has done for us and strive to more like Him and give of ourselves.

I was introduced to this song and video from another blog and thought I would share it here. It was produced by the Brigham Young University College of Fine Arts and Communication. I hope you enjoy it by clicking on the link below and I hope that we will all strive to help everyone around us have more joy this Christmas Season:

Joy To Everyone This Christmas

World AIDS Day

“All about us there are many who are in need of help and who are deserving of rescue. Our mission in life, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, must be a mission of saving. There are the homeless, the hungry, the destitute.”President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Our Mission of Saving,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 59

Today is World AIDS Day so I thought I would take the opportunity to write about my experience in Kenya. I had the opportunity of going to Africa about 4 years ago. I saw the devastating results of AIDS as many of the children were orphans due to the effects of AIDS. I saw children being raised by grandparents or by once strangers or neighbors. I saw the sadness in children's eyes but I also saw hope. The children were taught to sing a repeated phrase, "Stay alive. Stay alive. Stay alive.", over and over again. It was a song filled with hope - hope of living long lives and lives without AIDS. Here are a few pictures from my trip. (Sorry they are not the best quality. They are pictures of pictures - I didn't have a digital camera then.)

If you would like to donate to help in the cause you can donate to the LDS Humanitarian Services, the group that I went to Africa with called Reach the Children, or you can donate at many other sites online.

Many of us may not be able to donate in this way and that is okay. Fast Offerings is one of the greatest ways to help those that are in need. We can also give great service by finding opportunities to serve those in our communities who are less fortunate. We may find that we can help at a soup kitchen, bring a meal into a neighbor in need, or simply lend a helping hand by giving of a our time and talents.

Let us all find opportunities to help the homeless, the hungry, the destitute. Let us all find opportunities to serve.

A Meal, A Miracle

So I had a really interesting and neat experience this morning and I couldn't wait to post about it. I am the Compassionate Service Leader in my ward and therefore I set up a lot meals for people. A sister who lives in our ward boundaries but has been inactive for quite some time has been the most recent recipient of meals. She just had her 4th child. She has not had this close of contact with the LDS church in quite some time (however her Mom, who is an active member, lives with her) so I wanted things to go well. So there is a little bit of background for you.

So yesterday afternoon I gave her Mom a call to make sure the meals had been coming in okay. Sure enough everything had been going great, which I was glad to hear. Then later on in the evening my husband and I had a meeting to attend and were gone for several hours. When we returned home I checked the messages on my phone and found out that the meal for that night did not make it to this family. The sister who I had asked to bring them a meal got stranded at a copy store because she locked her keys in the car. It ended up being a big ordeal, she got home late, the meal was not delivered, and the family was not contacted.

I felt absolutely sick about it. I was sure the family had sat around wondering when the meal would arrive, with children hungry and ready to eat, with a Mom and her new born baby - the situation played out in my head and I felt really bad. It was about 9:30 or so when I received the message so there was not a whole lot I could do at that point. I decided I would call the next day (which is today) and apologize for the whole situation.

So this brings us to just about an hour ago. I dialed there number a little nervous about how to approach the situation. When she answered I started to apologize that a meal didn't come in last night. She quickly stopped me and told me that they had received a meal. I was shocked. I asked who it was who brought the meal but she didn't know her name. She said they brought it early in the afternoon and it worked out great. I still do not know if I accidently scheduled two meals for this night (unknowingly for this purpose) or if a very in-tune sister brought a meal over that afternoon but I do know that it was a miracle - it was the hand of the Lord at work. The mother of this sister said that having sisters from the ward bring in meals has been really good for her daughter. I am grateful for this miracle and for the blessing it was to have things work out so well for this family. The hand of the Lord is really in all things and small miracles surround us each day.

A Birthday Gift for President Monson

I thought that this was a great idea and a great opportunity for our children to be a part of President Monson's Birthday. Of course it is a great idea for us adults as well. What gift could you give President Monson for his birthday this year?

A Birthday Gift for President Thomas S. Monson

In his conference talk, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “When our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, was asked on his birthday this past August what would be the ideal gift that members worldwide could give him, he said without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Find someone who is having a hard time, … and do something for them.’”1

Children, would you like to give President Monson a birthday present? Think of an act of ser-vice you could do for someone. Maybe your grandpa needs help around the house. Or perhaps that new boy at school needs a friend. There are many people who need help, and many kind children to help them! Tell us about your act of service, and then read about many others in the August 2009 Liahona and Friend—President Monson’s birthday month!

Please e-mail your letter, photo, and permission to friend@ldschurch.org or to liahona@ldschurch.org.

Or send your letter, photo, and permission to:
Birthday Service Friend [or Liahona] Magazine 50 E. North Temple St., Rm. 2420 Salt Lake City, UT 84150-0024, USA

The following information and permission must be included:
Full Name
Age
State/Province, Country
I grant permission to print submission and photo:
Signature of parent or legal guardian

Please respond by December 15, 2008. Children whose letters are submitted should be at least three years old.

If every member gave this gift to President Monson this year for his birthday a great ammount of service would be done. So go and “Do something for someone else on that day to make his or her life better. Find someone who is having a hard time, or is ill, or lonely, and do something for them. That’s all I would ask.”

Operation NICE

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

So my sister pointed me in the direction of this blog. It is filled with experiences of others' acts of kindness as well as assignments to do specific NICE things. I really enjoyed the site and thought I would share it here---->Operation NICE

I also like the kindness corner at one of my favorite websites, Sugardoodle.com---> Kindness Corner.

Reading these sites made me think of this thought provoking hymn - Have I Done Any Good?

1. Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed. Has anyone’s burden been lighter today Because I was willing to share? Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way? When they needed my help was I there?

[Chorus] Then wake up and do something more Than dream of your mansion above. Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, A blessing of duty and love.

2. There are chances for work all around just now, Opportunities right in our way. Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,” But go and do something today.’ Tis noble of man to work and to give; Love’s labor has merit alone. Only he who does something helps others to live. To God each good work will be known.

[Chorus] Then wake up and do something more Than dream of your mansion above. Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, A blessing of duty and love.

Text and music: Will L. Thompson, 1847–1909, alt.

There are opportunities right in our way so let's wake up and do something more - let's go and do something today.

Opposite Trick-or-Treating ~ Service

So I thought I'd share this fun idea. Last year my son was too young to do "real" trick-or-treating but I still thought it would be fun to go around with my cute little dressed-up tike and knock on some doors. So we devised a plan to get out there and enjoy Halloween and this is what we came up with - OPPOSITE TRICK-OR-TREATING!!! First, we made these cute little treats:
It was simply white tissue paper, some ribbon, and a black marker. Inside was a little bag full of caramel popcorn. I made quite a few of these in no time flat.

Anyway, we went around and knocked on neighbors doors and instead of saying Trick-or-Treat, I said, "Opposite Trick-or-Treat" and handed them our little gift. It was fun to see their reactions and it was fun to get a little taste of Halloween without returning home with enough candy to last us the whole year.

Now that my son is a little older we plan to do both. We will do a little taking and do a little giving. I've decided that many of us have put so much emphasis on service around Thanksgiving and Christmas time that we tend to forget about the rest of the year. Why not a yummy ghostish treat in October? Why not something at St. Patrick's time or the 4th of July? Or even better why not bring a treat or lend a helping hand today, tomorrow, or any day of the year?!?

I loved this line from Elder Ballard, "He isn't asking us to walk across a nation but to walk across the street."

I hope some of you try Opposite Trick-or-Treating or more importantly I hope we all can learn to simply "walk across the street" and be of service to our neighbors and friends.

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.