Friday, January 6, 2012

10 Ways Your Household Can Serve the Lord

(Photo above - Dani, an A to Z memorizer in Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Hey Friends!

Happy Weekend to you!

I'll be spending the weekend cheering for my two favorite redheaded hockey players (yes, I am a hockey mom!), I have strep throat - boo! and hope you have some fun, joy-filled activities planned too!

During my treadmill time this week, I've been thinking about the "A verse" from the Memory Verse Challenge.

A - As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. -Joshua 24:15b


Not wanting to be just a hearer of the Word, but also a doer (James 1:22), I've been asking God how we might best serve Him this year as a family.

As I was pondering and praying, my friend Amy Sullivan came to mind. Amy has an amazing blog where she shares her family's journey in finding God-sized ways to give in the everyday.

Although we live in different states, I had the chance to hang out with Amy at She Speaks this past summer.

(Pic below: Lisa from Glad Chatter, Jen from Finding Heaven, me and Amy Sullivan).


Amy has such a beautiful heart for others, and is a huge encouragment in sharing creative ways to serve God in the midst of everyday life! I sent Amy a quick note and she was more than willing to share some fun ways to serve!

Here's Amy...


10 Ways Your Household Can Serve the Lord

The phone rings. The teacher emails. The dog needs food, and come to think of it, so do your kids. The calendar fills. The laundry piles, and that verse, that newly memorized verse, haunts you.

As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15b

See, verse memorizing proved easy. It’s the living out the verse’s meaning that’s hard.

How does your household serve God in daily, practical, and yet, meaningful ways?

Not so long ago, my family stood paralyzed by the greatness of our inadequacies and the needs of the world.

Then, God started whispering, you know those soft whispers you hear in your head and feel in your veins. He told us that serving Him meant serving others. He told us to quit defining what service looked like and just start serving.

So, we did, and guess what? You can too.

Need some ideas? I thought you might. Check out this list (and links because who has time to look for links?) of 10 practical ways your family can serve the Lord today.

1. Write letters of encouragement to soldiers. Soldier's Angels
assists you in flooding our country’s heroes with mail and thanks.

2. Cut fabric for shoes. Sole Hope provides closed-toe shoes for kids in Africa, and you can help.

3. Color pictures for the lonely. Color a Smile
encourages even the littlest servers to send some crayon, colored love through the mail.

4. Find the courage to look at hard topics. What’s the fastest growing division of the porn industry? Child porn. Makes you sick, right? Good. Go see what the Sold Project is doing about it.

5. Lend a microloan. Kiva changes lives by lending small loans (as low as $25.00) to an entrepreneur across the world. These entrepreneurs then use your money to buy livestock, start a store, purchase a bike, or allow them the opportunity to earn money. Then, through Kiva, these same entrepreneurs pay you back.

6. Invest in kids that are not your own. Maybe it’s the girl at : Breanna's House
or maybe it’s the kid from the single-parent family home down the street.


7. Love even when it’s not convenient and especially when it’s hard.

8. Watch a video, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Need direction? Try this one, The Girl Effect.

9. Read words penned by a world changer. Kisses from Katie
will make your heart hurt and swell at the same time.

10. Pray always.

Question for you: What does the daily and practical ways of serving the Lord look like to your family?

~ Amy Sullivan


What a powerful list, Amy! Thanks for sharing! (If you want to visit/connect with Amy, please hop on over to her blog
and say hello!)

I'd love to hear from you, dear friends! Let's answer Amy's question, "What does the daily and practical ways of serving the Lord look like to your family?" Share with us please!

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*! Have a blessed weekend! :)





9 comments:

Michelle said...

Praying for your strep throat. Enjoy your weekend and no cheering. Sign your cheers. Thanks for sharing post with us. I love the ideas and will be thinking of ways my family can do more to express our love this year.

Denise said...

Thanks so very much for sharing this beautiful list. My husband and I have no children, but we love to serve others. Helping cook, and serve meals at the food bank, and donating food. Giving coats to the needy in the winter time. Giving donations to the salvation army, and also goodwill.

Amy Sullivan said...

Cindy,
Get better soon! Thanks so much for allowing me to be a small part of the memory verse challenge. Excited to see all of the excitement, fun, learning and growth that will come from this.

Amy Sullivan said...

Michelle,
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!

Amy Sullivan said...

Denise,
How fun that your husband and you both enjoy serving others! I know lots of couples where one person is interested and the other isn't. I'm sure it makes life hard. I'm sure that through your serving you aren't only making an impact, but growing as a couple.

Natasha Ohlman said...

Well I'm suppose to be cleaning the house, but got unexpectedly drawn into the cyber world by Amy Sullivan's blog. Thanks Cindy for posting! Amy is my kinda woman...I'm a fan of giving of yourself, making a party out of it and inviting others to feel the joy too!! So excited to keep reading, but for now the toilets visited by a 3 year old boy in the potty training stages is calling my name. I'll be back after the house reeks of Pine Sol...until then:)

Natasha Ohlman said...

Well I'm suppose to be cleaning the house, but got unexpectedly drawn into the cyber world by Amy Sullivan's blog. Thanks Cindy for posting! Amy is my kinda woman...I'm a fan of giving of yourself, making a party out of it and inviting others to feel the joy too!! So excited to keep reading, but for now the toilets visited by a 3 year old boy in the potty training stages is calling my name. I'll be back after the house reeks of Pine Sol...until then:)

Andrea said...

Great ideas! J spent an hour today making pictures for the smile project. He's home after having fever all day yesterday, but better today (yea God). In exchange for those minutes of coloring I offered a matching minute of tv time. Momma still has to work. :)

Unknown said...

i memorised the verse but didnt even think to do the important 'action' part...need to get to it...fabulous links thanksto Amy and you xxxxx

Blog Widget by LinkWithin