Volunteering

Ten years ago our oldest child started Kindergarten.  She didn't go to preschool, so that was our first experience with school.  I remember attending the Open House in the fall and thinking, "I want to do something for the school."  I wanted to do something that would bring something special to the school - kind of the "extras" or the "fun" things.


I talked to the Superintendent and Principal and asked them if I could start a PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization).  They agreed that I could.  That first year we had quite a few people sign up to be PTO members.  We elected officers and had fundraisers, and made big plans for the future.


During the next few years the PTO painted the playground equipment, purchase a lighted sign for the front of the school building, and helped with school field trips.  We planned and payed for parties during the year and collected Campbell's Soup Labels and Box Tops for Education.


Each year many of the same parents signed up.  Interest in PTO grew, as did the number of participants at school events where helpers were needed.  Since that time, the numbers have gone up and down, but for the most part it has grown each year.. 


I always thought I would do PTO (as far as being "in charge") for 10 years, but just today it hit me that it has been 10 years this year.  Am I ready to quit?  No.  In fact, I really can't believe it's been that long.  Right now I still have two children in elementary, so I want to be there helping them and involved with their classes.


Tonight was our annual PTO Fall Festival.  It is a fun evening full of games, food, and fun.  We have always had people volunteer to help, but this year we had the biggest number of participation and help that we've ever had.  It was great!  We were all cleaned up and home by 9:00 tonight - just because so many people volunteered their time to help.


Volunteering is a great way to give during "The 30-Day Giving Challenge".  Take the time to volunteer at your child or grandchild's school.  Ask your school how you can help them.  For our school (this week, anyway), this week is the book fair.  Maybe you could volunteer to help them during that week.  Tonight the PTO had a concessions stand.  Maybe your school has a function planned and you could volunteer to help serve in that way.  Whatever you find to do, remember that in serving others you are really serving Christ. 


Find a way to volunteer today and.....Happy Giving to you :).

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me’.

Isaiah 6:8

Give Thanks

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
Psalm 28:7

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

1 Chronicles 16:8

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

Psalm 107:1

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Psalm 7:17

(Photos by Lori)

The Chronicles of Biscuit - "My Conscience Beat Me"

Last year for Christmas, I bought the kids a small little table-top pool table.  It was worth the $20.00 I spent and has been used for hours and hours of fun and friendly family competition.  A few weeks ago I heard Biscuit say to his brothers, "I just got beat playing pool."  Knowing the other two boys were playing another game together in another room, and Lauren was in her room, I asked Biscuit, "Who beat you?" (No one else was in the room with him.)  He replied, "I did....my conscience beat me!".


I have no idea how a 6 year old knows what a conscience is, but I'm kind of glad he does. (Maybe I can use that when trying to teach him about right and wrong!) 


I decided to ask Biscuit about his conscience. 
Me:  What is a conscience?
Biscuit:  Somebody who is yourself.  A not-alive person. 
Me:  Who told you that? 
Biscuit:  Nobody.  I got it off of a movie.
Me:  Really?  What movie?
Biscuit:  Nemo. (Finding Nemo)

Well, I have watched a LOT of Disney movies in my time.  In fact, that's just about all of the movies we ever watch, plus some Christmas classics.  Most of the time the Disney movies do teach a lesson or have a "moral" to them. 

You may have heard the quote, "Let your conscience be your guide.".  Well, for some, that might work, but for others it wouldn't work at all.  Your conscience should only be your guide if it is line with what God would want.  Your conscience would need to line up with God's standards about what is right and what is wrong.  The conscience can be helpful, but only if it hasn't been seared to where it no longer recognizes right from wrong. As Christians, we should let God's Word be our guide, let the Holy Spirit be our guide.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Galatians 5:16

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

What if our conscience has been seared?  Can it be made stronger again?  Yes, it can, if we will take the time to help make it stronger.  How can we make it stronger?

1.  By reading the Bible and finding out more about how God wants us to live, our conscience can be strenthened.

 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

2.  It can also be strengthened by prayer.  When praying, you can ask God to help you develop your conscience.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:19-22

3.  Confessing sin to God and looking to the example of Jesus will help our conscience be strengthened as well. 

Look what Paul said in Acts 24:16, "So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man."

4.  Allow the Holy Spirit to work within you. 

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Ephesians 4:30

Ask yourself these questions:

Do you have a sensitive conscience or a dull, seared one?

Do you easily recognize right from wrong or is it a hard decision for you to make?

What do you need to do to help strengthen your conscience?

Don't let your conscience "beat" you.  Strengthen it with God's help and use it to better serve Him.

Pumpkins - Decorating, Food, and Baseball???

It might sound strange, but on this Gratituesday, I am grateful for "Pumpkins".  Because fall is my favorite time of year, I like the colors of the season - one of which is orange. Pumpkins help provide lots of fall orange, but they also provide many fun fall recipes that aren't typically enjoyed the rest of the year.  (One of my newly found favorites is Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramel Pecan Sauce.  You can find this recipe at my (and my mom and sister's) recipe blog here.)


Decorating with pumpkins is my favorite thing to do with them, but my second favorite thing to do with them happens on Thanksgiving Day with my husband's side of the family.

(Annual Cousins' Pumpkin Photo - not ALL of the cousins, but many of them!)

We began planting pumpkins 10 years ago and enjoy scattering them all over our yard uses them as decorations, along with hay bales and corn stalks.  Occasionally we carve pumpkins or paint them, but not always.  We prefer to keep them just as they are - until Thanksgiving Day, that is.

(In photo:  Niece DeeAnn)

On Thanksgiving Day, our pumpkins are used in a fun (but kind of strange!) way.  The pumpkin crop serves as one of the highlights of our families' Thanksgiving Day when, after lunch, everyone joins in a game of "Pumpkin Baseball".  Sppppppppllllllllaaaaaatttt!!!!  

(In photo:  Nephew Travis)

I'm grateful for pumpkins because they provide fun family traditions. For more Gratituesday, go to Laura's Heavenly Homemaker's blog.

Thank you, God, for pumpkins.

You Are Invited

Clip art courtesy of DailyClipArt.net


It's nice to be invited to things like birthday parties, showers, and fun gatherings with friends and family.  But, there is one invitation we should ALWAYS turn down....an invitation to a "Pity Party".


What is a "Pity Party"?  A pity party is when you and I begin to feel sorry for ourselves.  We have the "poor me" attitude, as if everything in the world revolves only around us.  We spend our time only looking inward to ourselves - thinking about our wants, our needs, and our happiness.


A pity party-type attitude causes us to have a chip on our shoulder and the mind-set that everyone is out to get us and displease us.  We feel that nothing ever goes our way, that gloom and dispare is the only thing in sight.  We fail to see the good in anything.


God doesn't want us to have "Pity Parties".  He says to us through His Word:  "Look up!"  "Look to Me for your strength, your joy, and your happiness".  His Word also tells us to find ways to serve each other - to give to each other - and gives us a perfect example of His Son, Jesus, who spent years doing just that.


The 30-Day Giving Challenge, which began November 1, is a way to help get our minds set on things above and also set on people in need all around us.  Today during announcements before worship services, names were listed of those who were sick, who had lost loved ones, or who needed prayers in other ways.  One way to get ourselves out of "Pity Parties" is to think of those on the prayer list.  Send them a note, a card, and especially take time to pray for each of those individuals.


If you receive an "invitation" to a Pity Party, RSVP in the following way:  "NO, Thank you!" 


Have a great week!