Seriously!?!

We are finishing up our 7th week of serving every day.  I've got to say, this has been the hardest week for keeping up the "Penny of Time" Adventures.  Planning for the Birthday Service Project is not going as well as I would like.  Just basic attitudes of "kids can't really do anything of value for us" . . . dragging me down a bit.  Child behavior is not what I would like right now.  Real life worries are getting to me more easily this week.

I've been studying more about "selfless service" . . . and this quote has really helped: 

Helping out is not some special skill. It is not the domain of rare individuals. It is not confined to a single part of our lives. We simply heed the call of that natural impulse within and follow it where it leads us.  Ram Doss

I think, oftentimes, that when it is the hardest to do good things, like serve with your children, it is absolutely the most important time to be doing those good things.  So, I have kept pushing forward to do them.

Today, my oldest spent some time playing with a friend.  We had left treats anonymously at this friend's house two weeks ago.  (It is called "boo-ing" where you leave treats and a Halloween picture, and the family puts the picture up and continues the chain of booing to other families.)  As we were leaving, my oldest saw the picture and quietly asked,"What is that?"

His friend talked excitedly about how someone left treats at the door.  My son felt so good at seeing how that experience was something that brought joy to his friend.

My 3 year old told me he wanted to give stickers to his "friends" (all the other little kids not in school yet) when we went to pick up my oldest from school.  We grabbed some stickers as we went out the door.  Sure enough, he walked around to all the little kids and offered stickers.  That was his own "penny of time" moment to think of others and how to be nice!

Young children can help others.  They can have a positive effect on the world around them.  They CAN learn to make positive changes.  They matter.  They can DO.  And what they can do matters.