This was a post I wrote on my blog Aspire to Inspire. I wanted to include it here as well since this blog page will be all the compilations of service activities we have done as a family this year.
"I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants."
Why am I healthy? Why am I blessed to live in a home? Why am I blessed with safety? With the necessities and luxuries of life? While others live in poverty, war, sickness, and duress?
"To whom much is given, much is required". I do not have more because I am more favored or blest. I have more so that I may give more of what I have; it's that simple.
The inconsistencies of life--the law of opposition-- prove the necessity of reciprocity.
We are here to extend compassion, love, forgiveness, and help. When I'm in good health I administer to those who are not; when I am on the road to success I elevate others to success. I do this because when I am experiencing the flipside of the law of opposition, I am the one in need of humanities extension of love, service, and help.
These past few weeks my family has been on the "decline", dealing with what seemed like a bout of bad luck—from injuries, sicknesses, snowstorms, urgent care and hospital visits, to surgery. At the end of last week I felt like my reservoir of love, service, and giving back to humanity was empty...I was running on fumes.
I can not begin to express how grateful I was to family, friends, and people I'd never met, who extended their helping hand either through a phone call, a prayer, or a comment of concern left on my Instagram or Facebook. Humanity came through for my family and now that we are back "on the saddle", it's time to pay it forward.
President Monson said: "There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of … service.”6
In accordance with President Monson’s remarks, Mike and I have made it our goal as a family this year to step away from being merely spectators or seasonal givers, and find some way-- large or small--we can serve each month.
January we took the kiddos to a highly littered road by our home and picked up trash. Every time we drive by that road Beckahm says, "that's where we picked up trash". That day we left a little part of the world cleaner and more beautiful.
With February being the month of "love", and going through the trying moments that came as a result of Amari’s sickness, this months service adventure could not be more fitting: assembling care packages for sick children at Children's Hospital.
It was difficult for us to stay 2 nights in the hospital, getting little to no sleep, having nurses come in at all hours to check vitals, having no real place for our 1 year old to run and play, and missing out on eating home cooked meals. Our situation only made me reflect on the hundreds of thousands of children and families—whose hospital is their home—fighting the good fight against disease and sickness every day. My heart goes out to them for the fatigue, stress, concern, frustration, and sadness they must feel on a daily/weekly basis.
I wish there was more we could do, but I am grateful for the privilege I have to make a child’s day a bit brighter by actively participating in bettering their life as so many people have bettered my own over the years.
I pray daily for you, you little conquerors, you soldiers fighting battles of sickness, pain, and fatigue. I pray that you will be strong, courageous, and bold. That you will not let any ailment or fear defeat you. That you will keep dreaming, hoping, and believing that one day you will know what it's like to live without pain. That you are THAT awesome, THAT amazing, and THAT loved. Never give up little soldiers— little keepers of humanities dreams, imaginations, creativity, magic, wonder and awe. You are our superheroes--your light, your love, your strength, your hope, is the betterment of us all.
President Thomas S. Monson regarding our duty to serve:
The Lord Jesus Christ taught, “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it” (Luke 9:24).
“I believe,” said President Thomas S. Monson, “the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives.”1
“My brothers and sisters, we are surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our support, our comfort, our kindness—be they family members, friends, acquaintances, or strangers. We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. He is dependent upon each of us. …
“That service to which all of us have been called is the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.”3
“We bless others as we serve in the shadow of ‘Jesus of Nazareth … who went about doing good’ [Acts 10:38]. God bless us to find joy in serving our Father in Heaven as we serve His children on earth.”4
January: picked up liter
February: assembled baskets for sick children at Children's Hospital
Letter we received from Children's Hospital
A song dedicated to all those beautiful children sick or otherwise afflicted
March
We made brownies and Becks colored a picture and wrote a thank you card to take to our local fire station. We are so grateful for those brave men who keep our communities safe every day.
April's service project: recycling for a full month. Beckham did such a good job helping pick up trash. When he'd see trash outside he'd bring it to me and say "mom, look, recycling!!" I got him a book at the library on recycling and at the end of the month we gathered all our bag and took them to the recycling center downtown Birmingham. He had so much fun sorting through the trash and putting items in different bins.
May's service project coincided with Memorial Day. I want Beckahm to learn and appreciate the holidays we celebrate/honor, and what better one to celebrate than Memorial Day. I rented a book at the library about Memorial Day and after reading it to him he was super excited to send a thank you letter/care package to members in our military. When the day drew nearer all he kept asking me is "are we sending a box to the military?" He was so excited to go shopping for all the goodies/necessities they might enjoy and also to color a superhero picture of his out of his coloring book and write a thank you note to them.
Love how excited he was about this months service project #budding#philanthropist #memorialday #may #service #beckahmmoment #military#superheroes
Letters we received from the military
June Service
I racked my brain for a service project we could do for the month of June and as it just so happened that Flag Day (aka my birthday) fell in June I decided to base the theme around world honor, respect, and appreciation. I decided to focus on 4 countries: Italy, Japan, Sweden, and Morocco. I checked out books on these countries at the library for Becks and I to read together. We also looked up everything from sports, language, native cuisine, music to historical landmarks online. I made corresponding flags for each nation for Becks to display in his room. We decided to end the month by purchasing a mosquito net for a much needed family in Morocco (I had Beckahm help out with chores around the house and gave him money to add to our can to purchase the net). He was so excited about this months service; he was amazed to see the video I showed him of little kids—just like him—dying from such a simple thing as a bug bite; he was so happy to help in any way he could #family #service #june #flagday#makeadifference #changetheworld #giveback#gratitude #africa #oneworld #unity #love#commonality
It's important to me that my kids remember where they came from and to be grateful for their family heritage, especially since we are so far from family and they rarely get to see their grandparents. So for July's service activity Beckahm sent packages to his grandparents--expressing his love and gratitude. These are the pictures he drew (a sun and a shark). He also made a little video and some yummy goodies for them #julyservice #family#gratitude #love #grandparents #heritage #giveback #serve #toddler#artwork
For August's service project we focused on Missionary work. We had the missionaries over for dinner, Beckahm prayed every night for the missionaries, and we Beckahm took an envelope with money in it to the Bishop to go towards the church's Perpetual Education Fund.
Since we were in Oregon part of September, I wanted to have the cousins help out with our service project for September. We wanted to do something easy and enjoyable for the kids, and since we'd been surrounded by beautiful nature all week and Jenn had been showing us the ins and outs of her garden, we decided to plant a tree. The kids got to go to the nursery and pick out their own tree and then take it back to Auntie Jenny's house where she taught them about the importance of plants and our planet. They had so much fun getting their hand dirty. I love how kids are so impressionable and how enthusiastic they can be about simple things we take for granted #changingtheworld#septembersserviceproject #beckahmmoment #amarimoment #cousins#oregon #service #planting #trees #nature #planet
Unfortunately we missed a service activity in October, but we did make up for it by doing multiple things in December :).
November we bought groceries and provided a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need (recent converts) in our ward. Their situation broke our hearts when we heard about it: a 16 year old, 18 year old, and a father. The father lost his job, the 18 year old is supporting the family working at Mc Donald's while going to school. They lost their mother a few months ago. And Cedella and her sister are recent converts to the church. Cedella and her family were so appreciative. I am grateful that our boys could share in this experience as well. I hope it leaves and impacting impression upon them; that they grow up remembering that the true joy in living is through giving. I am grateful that I am now Cedella's visiting teacher and that we have created such a sweet friendship with her and her family.
December, we were able to feed both sets of missionaries, babysit one of Beck's friends for three days and feed their family dinner, and give a really nice Christmas to Cedella and her family.
Taking Cedella and her family their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve
November we bought groceries and provided a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need (recent converts) in our ward. Their situation broke our hearts when we heard about it: a 16 year old, 18 year old, and a father. The father lost his job, the 18 year old is supporting the family working at Mc Donald's while going to school. They lost their mother a few months ago. And Cedella and her sister are recent converts to the church. Cedella and her family were so appreciative. I am grateful that our boys could share in this experience as well. I hope it leaves and impacting impression upon them; that they grow up remembering that the true joy in living is through giving. I am grateful that I am now Cedella's visiting teacher and that we have created such a sweet friendship with her and her family.
December, we were able to feed both sets of missionaries, babysit one of Beck's friends for three days and feed their family dinner, and give a really nice Christmas to Cedella and her family.
Taking Cedella and her family their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve
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