New Year, Time for Decisions....How can you make a difference?

Since it is the beginning of 2009, it is a perfect time to sit down with your children and "brainstorm" about how your family can make a difference this year. We all talk about it, and it always sounds good, but then life gets busy, kids get sick, and there you go...all done. I have found that my kids are sometimes more persistent than I am. They constantly ask when we can have the lemonade stand, the bake sale, the garage sale, to raise money for their chosen cause. I really like the way Shaohannah's Hope received donations from a precious little girl this past year (check out www.shaohannahshope.org to read the details). She saved "change" in a bucket, did different jobs, cooked items all to raise money. When I shared her story with my boys, they decided that they would like to do something like this. So, we got a bucket or 2, and have one at home and one at church. Anyone who comes over is "told" about the bucket and what the boys are doing, and the one at church is just out. I like this because it not only raises money, but it also raises awareness of the needs for orphans to be adopted....my boys want to start odd jobs for neighbors in the spring like dog-sitting, yard work, etc to add to it. Our first six weeks of just TALKING about the bucket and what is was for with family and friends over the holidays led to a total of $81.15 (plus some of the kids money that they have been saving). Since the Shaohannah's Hope is in the same town, we were able to GO there and let the boys walk the check up to them, and personally hand it over. This is another great way so the kids actually see where their money and work and love go. It teaches them that they CAN make a difference. God calls us in Deuteronomy 24:19,"When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back and get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." As Americans, sometimes this is difficult for us...sometimes we don't see the desperate needs of others before us. It is a distant article in the paper, or story on the news. With the economy taking its downward spiral, I suspect more of us will see need around us in the upcoming months. We need to leave the sheaf behind for those who most need it. The least of these, the forgotten, the "unlovable," the hungry. I am adding a short and by no means extensive list of ideas for your kids to think about. Please add in the comments any other ways we can serve others by leaving our sheaf behind.

• Collect change and donate to a local charity
• Have a garage sale where the kids help
• Work a lemonade stand
• Post signs for yard work, car washing, house keeping
• Collect old towels, blankets for the Humane Society
• For birthday parties, instead of gifts---Have guests bring diapers to donate to foster care, or bring gently worn school uniforms to donate to foster care, or dog food/cat food to give to the Humane Society, or donations for orphans via Shaohannah's Hope or the Starfish Foster Home (you can pay for a surgery, part of an adoption, or even sponsor a child!), have donations for your local library, or have a coat drive to donate to those needing coats
• For teen parties, invite teens to volunteer at an animal shelter, or to work a day for Habitat for Humanity, or to help with a car wash to raise money for your chosen charity, then take them out to eat/celebrate afterwards
• Plant a tree in honor of a special day/event---let your child choose the tree
• Send cards to those in need---a church member in a nursing home, for instance
• Commit to praying for families who are adopting
• Be creative--there are so many things we can do that would make such a difference in the life of one other person
• For orphans, in particular, look up Shaohannah's Hope, Starfish Foster Home (see the blog there as well), Love Without Boundaries, Half the Sky Foundation, call your church's orphan ministry or your local Department of Children's Services to see what needs foster care has in YOUR community
• PLEASE PRAY about how you can CHANGE the world in 2009, led by God and your children to leave that sheaf behind!

Love,
Eve