Serving and Lemonade

*NOTE: Please hang on to the end of this post, there is an invitation for YOU! (And, if you linked through FB, I wasn't trying to trick you - I AM really excited about sharing this with you! Read on, you'll see....)

This post isn't about our adoption at all, but it is about another work God is doing in our family! This summer I have tried to provide some productive structure to our days. Each kid has a chart on a clipboard with various daily activities, including chores, school work practice, Bible time, quiet reading, "funtivity", etc. I feel like Michelle Dugger. Except that we never really pull it off. Most days, my kids watch too much tv, we go swim, and maybe conquer one or two of the things on the chart. I find that chores, school work practice and quiet reading go out the window, but we MAKE SURE we accomplish our daily funtivity. In mean, it IS summer!! And, I have found that I am always super excited about Bible time. Here's why...

Each day we do something different for Bible time - scripture memory, prayer with Mommy (each kid has his own turn to tell me how I can be praying for him), Bible study with Daddy (similar concept, except with David), writing letters to our Compassion International friends, and (my favorite for the summer) serving others. It has become really important to me that our kids equate Bible time with more than learning Bible stories or even memorizing scripture. I want them to understand that it takes doing to understand and learn what the Bible really means. Not "doing" in the sense of becoming good little boys in order to please God, but "doing" in the sense of experiencing what the Bible teaches, particularly about loving and serving others. In order for them to serve others, they have to become self forgetful and are able, then, to become more mindful of God and how He loves people.

So, each week we go through this process. First we ask, "Who do we know who needs to be served?" Jesus washed the disciples' feet and told his followers to "go and do likewise." He didn't mean, necessarily, to go and wash more feet. He washed the disciples feet because, in that time and culture, it was a job that needed to be done and that job was done by a servant. Jesus became a servant to those he loved. So, when we "do likewise," we first need to figure out what people need. Then, we try to think of ways we are able to serve them. It has really been a lot of fun!

I am SUPER DUPER excited about our latest project!! We are joining the effort of Joshua Guthrie in raising money and awareness for his organization Dollar for a Drink. Joshua is a teenager from our area who decided to do something about the global water crisis and started with this simple concept. You MUST go to the Dollar for a Drink website and see all the wonderful things God has done in the short time DFaD has existed!

Anyway, it all started when the boys and I were watching Joshua's latest promotional video and the boys really understood the need for water that is so widespread around the globe. And, they could easily understand how we could serve those people, by giving money and spreading the word. We started thinking about ideas to generate as much money as we could, and God gave us the perfect idea - open a weekly lemonade stand, selling cups of lemonade for $1 and telling our customers about Dollar for a Drink! We are going to have our lemonade stand open most Saturday mornings (weather and schedule permitting) in our front yard. People always descend upon our area for yard sales this time of year and we are hoping that will bring us plenty of customers. We have invited other families in the neighborhood to join us by bringing some of the supplies that we'll need each week and working the stand.

It's a win, win, win! Kids LOVE to do lemonade stands and they learn how they can make a difference in this world. Money and awareness will be raised for DFaD. AND we are hoping this will serve Joshua by blessing him and encouraging him to keep it up! (I have known Joshua since he was in preschool, so it is especially fun to join his effort!)

AREN'T YOU SO EXCITED!?!? You should be, because you could do it, too! You could set up a lemonade stand in your front yard, as a one time gig or as an ongoing project. You can easily donate the money you raise by using the donate feature on the DFaD website, so it doesn't matter what part of the country you are in. DO IT!! DO IT!! You know you want to! : )

I will post pics of our first ever "Lemonade supporting Dollar for a Drink" tomorrow!! If you are in Jackson, come by and get a cup of lemonade! (We will be in our front yard from 9-11 am).