Community Service Ideas: Bandages, Spice Bundles, Activity Packages, and Meals

For the four Wednesdays leading up to Christmas, I planned community service projects for our confirmation (6th-8th grade) students to do. Community service is a big part of our confirmation program, so I was really excited to plan a series of service projects for our youth to complete during Advent. Since we have four weeks, I came up with four service projects: rolling bandages, making spice bundles, crayon/colored pencils and activity book packages, and making a meal.

Bandages: I decided that the first week, our group (55 kids plus 20 adults) would work together to roll bandages for Global Health Ministries (GHM). Our group tore white bed sheets into strips and then rolled the strips into bandages. Once they were rolled, we used a little masking tape to secure them. In about 30 minutes, our group rolled 128 bandages! The bandages will be sent to GHM, which will then send them around the world. I got great feedback from the adults and kids that this was a great community service project!

Youth and adults work together on a community service project to roll bandages.

On the second, third, and fourth weeks, the youth will work together by grade level to complete the other three community service projects, switching to a new project each week. By the time our weeks are done, we will put together 150 spice bundles, 150 activity packages, and 60 meals! That's in addition to the 128 bandages we did the first week. Amazing!

Homemade Taco Seasoning ingredients

Spice Bundles: This is my favorite of the four projects! I have always had a heart for hunger and homelessness issues, and this community service project addresses the issue of hunger a little bit. In talking with our local food pantry executive director, I realized that the people who use the pantry need some help learning how to cook with the items available. We also know that when money for groceries is limited, people are not likely to use their money to purchase herbs and spices. So, combining these issues, I came up with the idea to create a spice bundle that would include two simple recipes - Tacos and Chili - that use the provided spices. I bought treat bags from a party store and the four necessary spices (chili powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, oregano) from the grocery store. The kids put one of each of the spices into the treat bags and attached the recipe card. A simple project that serves our local community!

A completed spice bundle

Activity Packages: I got in touch with our local children's hospital and found out that they need crayons and colored pencils. When I heard that, I suggested that we also make activity books. So, our confirmation students donated crayons and colored pencils, and I created an activity book. For this project, our kids are making 4-packs of crayons or colored pencils and putting the activity books together, which means cutting the pages in half and then stapling the pages together. A nurse from our congregation who works at the children's hospital will deliver the crayons/colored pencils and activity books just before Christmas. This service project is quite simple, but these gifts will be so appreciated by the kids who receive them.


Meals: One of the ministries at our church is called Grace Meals. This ministry provides frozen meals to people who would appreciate the gift of a prepared meal. Anyone from our congregation can come and ask for one of the meals to give to a friend. They are often given to people after surgery or the birth of a baby. But they can really be given to anyone. Our youth were able to learn some new skills (like cutting onions and sautéing onions, peppers, and garlic), work together to put a meal together, and serve our church community.

Jesse Tree

One of my fondest Advent memories from childhood is doing the Jesse Tree with my family. The five of us would gather together for this daily devotion time. Even before I could read, I could participate! We would read a Bible passage, have some discussion about the passage, put an ornament on the Jesse Tree (my job, especially before I could read), and say a prayer.

The Jesse Tree from my childhood that I'm using with my own kids now.

If you are unfamiliar with the Jesse Tree, it is a really awesome way to get ready for Christmas. Each day, you read a Scripture passage and add an ornament to the Jesse Tree. The cool thing is that the whole point of the Jesse Tree is to connect Jesus to the Old Testament, so almost all of the readings are from the Old Testament. The first day, you read Isaiah 11:1-10, which talks about a shoot from the root of Jesse and prophesies the Messiah, Jesus. You also read 1 Samuel 16:1-13, about David being chosen as king. This sets up the idea of the Jesse Tree and allows you to talk about the idea of a family tree. Then, you jump back to the story of creation and make your way through some of the highlights of the Old Testament.

Even though Advent started on Sunday, November 27, it's not too late to start doing the Jesse Tree! You can find the daily readings here. (Most of the readings can be found in the Spark Story Bible, which is the one my son has. That makes it really easy to use with my young children.) There's also a really good description of the Jesse Tree on Feels Like Home. She has a free e-book available for download, which includes an explanation and suggestions for how to do the Jesse Tree. Her e-book also can be re-used each year, despite Advent having a different number of days year, and she explains how to do that.

You can make your own Jesse Tree, or you can find one on Amazon. Whatever you use, it's great to trace Jesus' lineage.

Pop Culture and Religion: Grilled Cheesus

One of my favorite things is finding where pop culture and religion intersect. I love when tv shows or movies inject some questions about faith. Better yet, I love when an entire movie (or tv episode) is a metaphor about faith. This interest serves me well as Director of Faith Formation (overseeing service and learning for all ages); I do a lot of youth ministry in my role.

As part of my job, I help host evening events for middle school students. Every two months or so, we offer our middle school students the opportunity to come spend time together on a Friday or Saturday night. We play games, sing songs, eat pizza and other snacks, and get to know each other better. We used to also show a movie, but the kids were generally uninterested. They preferred having time to just hang out together. So that past two events, we've switched gears a little bit and we've shown a tv episode to them and used it to have a conversation about faith.

Last spring, we showed "Grilled Cheesus," an episode from the second season of Glee. It's a great episode and shows several of the characters exploring faith - from a devout Baptist to an atheist. It allowed us to talk with our middle school students about prayer in a nonthreatening way. Even if you aren't hosting a middle school event at your church, check out this episode. Last I knew, the entire series of Glee episodes was available on Netflix.

Christmas Wish Lists

When I was kid, my parents would ask my sister and brother and me for Christmas Wish Lists. My parents used our lists to help with their Christmas shopping. They would share the lists with our grandparents, too. The best part of this, as a kid, was that I always received gifts that I wanted. At some point, I stopped providing these Christmas wish lists; I'm not sure why. My parents and friends had to work a lot harder to determine what I wanted for Christmas (or my birthday).

Now that I have kids of my own, I want our Christmas celebration to be joyful and centered around the reason for the season. It's so hard to avoid getting sucked into the commercialism of the holiday. It's really fun to give and receive gifts, so I still want that to be part of our celebration. But I do like the idea of being more thoughtful with our requests and with our gifts. An idea I've heard a lot in the last few years is to give each child four gifts: something wanted, something needed, something to wear, something to read.

I really like this idea. I like this idea so much that I created a PDF template for kids to fill out. You can download it for yourself right here.

What do you do in your house to help keep the focus on the birth of Jesus?

I Made a Rock

On Sunday mornings, my family and I go to worship and then my son, who is almost 5, goes to BASIC (Brothers And Sisters In Christ - our church's name for Sunday School). Each week, BASIC starts with songs and the Bible story with all of the kids together in the sanctuary. Then the kids head into classrooms for time with their peers. They share highs and lows, pray together, and usually do an activity together.

This past Sunday, I asked O how BASIC was and what they did. Here's how our conversation went:
Me: What did you do in BASIC today?
O: We played with Play-Doh!
Me: Oh, that sounds fun. What were you making with it?
O: Well, we were supposed to make something we are thankful for.
Me: That's cool. What did you make?
O: I made a rock.
Me: A rock, huh? You're thankful for rocks?
O: No. I wanted to make a human being, but it was too hard, so I made a rock.
Me: Oh. I gotcha. Human beings are hard to make. You're thankful for humans, though?
O: No! I was trying to make you, Mama!
Me: (tearing up) That is so sweet, buddy. I am thankful for you, too.

It makes me think about how thankful I am for the people in my life, but how infrequently I tell them. Why are we so quick to share our feelings of gratitude when it comes to things, but slow to share when it comes to people? I suppose it has something to do with vulnerability. It feels like a big risk to tell someone that you're thankful for them. Because what if they don't feel the same way back? But doesn't it feel good to hear that someone is thankful for you? Maybe that's what we need to focus on. Regardless of their response, it feels good to risk vulnerability, and it always feels good to hear that you are loved/appreciated. Who can you tell today that you're thankful for them?

Also, the conversation with O on Sunday reminded me of the song "We Want a Rock" by They Might Be Giants. Enjoy!

Last Day

I'm sitting at my desk at Tweedee Productions this afternoon for the last time. It's weird. It's oddly quiet. One co-worker is out of the office at a meeting and then will be working from home. Another co-worker just left for the day (but not before giving me a good-bye hug). One of my bosses is taking her mom to an appointment, but she'll probably be back around 4. And my other two bosses are working at their desks. There's no music playing. The phone isn't ringing. The only noise is the sound of typing and the air conditioning when it kicks on from time to time. Like I said, it's oddly quiet.

I spent the morning doing my usual cleaning at the church. And tonight I will wait tables at Mariner's Inn. But the afternoon - the filling of my work sandwich - is at Tweedee. My last day at Tweedee. It still seems surreal to me. But I'm sure I'll adjust.

I'm still looking for work. I haven't gotten a single interview for a teaching job. I haven't heard from NCME about the position I applied for last week. I am being patient. Or rather, I'm trying to be patient. I keep reminding myself of Matthew 6:25-31. "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." I am doing my best to trust God. I often find myself praying, "Lead me. Guide me." For now, it's enough.

On another topic altogether, for the past several months, I've been working on redesigning the website for our church. Today, it went live! If you've never seen the old site, you won't appreciate the improvement. If you have, enjoy the new design!

Good news and four jobs

Well, the good news is that my father-in-law's metastatic kidney cancer is responding well to treatment. After 8 weeks of drug therapy, all the tumors in his lungs have shrunk about 30-40%. In 8 weeks!! Can you believe it?!? God is GOOD!

I, on the other hand, struggle to remain positive about job prospects as the date of my last day at Tweedee approaches. I have added a 4th job to my arsenal: server at The Grumpy Troll. I'm only working 1-2 shifts/week right now, but I'm hoping that I can add at least one more there and one more at Mariner's Inn after I'm done at Tweedee. People have been assuring me that I'll qualify for unemployment benefits, but I don't think those benefits will cover our expenses, and I know they'll be adjusted based on my part-time job earnings. I'm going to try to figure that out before the end of June, but if my initial calculations are correct, I'll have to continue to work 3 part-time jobs until I can find one full-time job that pays me enough to have only it. And then? Well, then we'll celebrate! After we get our finances back in order, of course.

Fast, Pray, Give

For Lent, I was considering giving up sweets and alcohol, until a friend of mine on Facebook posted a link to this great Lent calendar. Each day, there is a quote and then suggestions for the day's fast, prayer, and gift. For example, yesterday the quote was: “Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.” — Charles M. Crowe And then the suggestions:

Fast from scheduling anything after work today.

Pray: Waste some time with God today. (Preferably not during work hours, i.e. don’t get fired!)

Give yourself a break today.

Some days, the Give portion suggests putting some money into a Fast-Pray-Give bowl, and at the end of Lent, you donate the money to a charity. On Sunday, the suggestion was to fast from lunch, pray for those in poverty, and give the money saved from fasting from lunch.

I like this calendar a lot because it has something new everyday, and they say to follow it, but if you don't stick with it on a particular day, just get back on track the next day. It provides a nice focus for me, rather than the general "I'm giving up sweets" which gets somewhat easy after a few days. If you're still thinking about your Lenten discipline and struggling to find a good way to be introspective, I would highly recommend checking out this calendar and following it with me!

Job Loss

On Friday, Einar sent me a text message telling me that he had been laid off. We're extremely grateful that I have (seemingly) stable employment at my 3 jobs, but I am still trying to come to terms with how this is going to impact our finances. I continue to look for a full-time job, but there aren't many openings. And I haven't heard anything from any of the places I've applied, except for the one offer that I declined.

Three people on three consecutive days last week asked me if I've considered returning to teaching. Perhaps God is nudging me? I do not have my Wisconsin license, and I haven't yet looked into what would be necessary to obtain it. There is some appeal to being back in a classroom, but I know Madison is an extremely tough district to get into because of an overabundance of licenses teachers. I might look into it, though. I've got to think about it a bit more before I make a decision.

It's Restaurant Week in Madison, which means I'm working a bit more than usual. Hopefully the restaurant will be busy, and I'll make a lot of money!! I hope people are generous.

UPDATE! (Inspiration)

I was cleaning at the church this morning, and I saw the youth director. She asked if I'd heard yet how much money the middle school bake sale made. I told her I hadn't heard but was anxiously awaiting an email with the total. She told me: $1,150!! Can you believe it?! A spur-of-the-moment bake sale, suggested by a sixth grader, raised $1,150 to be donated to an organization directly involved in Haiti. Again, I say, AMAZING!

Inspiration!

Last Friday, after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I received an email from one of the middle school students at church. It was sent to all the middle school students and parents, and in it, she proposed having a bake sale on Sunday morning and donating all the money to Haiti Partners MCC, a non-profit organization started in our church. Within a few hours of her email request, I had 10 emails from parents and students expressing their willingness to help and commending the girl for her idea and initiative. This girl is in 6th grade, and according to her mom, she really wanted to DO something to help.

So, yesterday morning, before and during Sunday school, baked goods starting coming. I'm sure there were more than 10 families that brought something to sell. There was quiet an assortment - banana bread, cinnamon rolls, chocolate croissants, brownies, cookies, peanut butter fudge, cupcakes, lemon bars, and even full loaves of bread that could be pre-ordered for pick-up on February 7. The kids took care of everything: signs, accepting payments, decorations, bagging up items, counting money. It was amazing!! I don't know how much they made, but I heard that before worship started (with about half the items sold), they had raised over $600. Amazing. Inspiring. And such a good experience for them, especially for the girl whose idea it was.

Birds of the Air

I've always liked this Bible passage:
‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” - Matthew 6:25-31

I find it comforting and calming, and I often think of it when I start to feel financially stressed. And when I manage to stop worrying, when I've put my trust in God to provide for me, I have always been taken care of. Case in point: last Wednesday. I had to waitress, and in the morning, I took a few minutes to figure out how much I would need to make to keep Einar and I on track financially. I told Einar, "I need to make $120 tonight." He looked at me and, knowing that Wednesday nights are not typically reliable for making $120 in tips, told me, "Good luck!" I nodded, sharing his doubt. But I told myself that it would work out and offered up a prayer. When I arrived at the restaurant, it wasn't looking like my goal - my need, actually - would be met. There was only 1 reservation, and guests weren't exactly knocking down the door. One of the servers went home early. Slowly but surely I started getting tables. And slowly but surely my tips followed. I wasn't feeling optimistic, though. I reminded myself to just trust that it would happen. At the end of the night, when I did my check out, I had made $119.57! Amazing. God does provide. . .