Homeschooling: An Opportunity to Serve
While Ray and I were at Hope Lodge, we were the beneficiaries of many acts of kindness, both from people we knew and from people we had never met. One of the many blessings of homeschooling is that its flexible schedules give homeschooled children opportunities to serve others in many creative ways. Today and later, I want to share with you some specific things people did to bless us in the hope that these will prompt you to think of how you and your children can serve others.
One of the ways our family and friends showed kindness to us for those five weeks was by helping us make our little hotel room an inviting home away from home. We received these mini-lights in a fall candleholder. The giver had set them so that they came on every day at 4:30 p.m. and stayed on until 10:30. It was a daily reminder of their love and concern. She suggested that we find little natural treasures here and there to put on its tray during our stay. This pretty leaf was our first find.
We received a paper garland, paper pumpkins, and . . .
. . . a wooden fall wall hanging and eight unfinished wooden acorns which I enjoyed coloring.
I used a gift of window clings to decorate the mirrors in the bedroom and the bathroom. The paper chain that I made for Ray’s countdown hung beside the bedroom mirror. We received a pretty placemat in a box filled with goodies, a candle, and place cards with an encouraging message from each member of the family. As you can see, all of these decorations went along beautifully with the only two decorations I had planned to take: a small fall quilt I made a few years ago and the orange fabric pumpkins one of our daughters had made for us earlier in the fall.
We enjoyed receiving these handmade Bible verse posters.
One friend sent us this pretty FreshCut Paper bouquet.
A mama and her children sent us these works of art. I had to be creative finding ways to display things without marring surfaces. I taped these to each other and to the outside edges of the television screen.
One day I asked a friend who lives in the greater Nashville area to do some shopping for us. When she and her husband came with our items, they brought the turkey standing in front of the TV and a pretty fall wreath.
The little wreath below and these adorable handmade felt owls were in the goodie box I mentioned earlier. And here you see our lighted candleholder with all of the little treasures we collected along the way.
All of these gifts were blessings that cheered us during a hard time.
Giving your children time in their schedules to bless others blesses the recipients and blesses the givers, too.
And do not neglect doing good and sharing,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Hebrews 13:16