How to Raise a Service Oriented Family

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Of all the things I hope to instill in my children while still young,  to have a service oriented nature is high up on my list.

Why is helping my children to find joy in serving others important to me? Because the world is filled with enough people who are selfish, entitled, disconnected, and proud. I want my children to grow up to be loving, kind, selfless, and humble. The best way I know to help my children to obtain these Christ like attributes to teach them the joy of serving.

The best way to teach your children about service is by example and by giving them plenty of opportunities to experience the power of service in their own lives.

Here are 11 great ways in which you can serve as a family (no matter how young or old your children are)

1- Create a family service Theme

I have a friend who is also big on teaching her children service. Their Family theme is ECHO= Everyone Can Help Others. She says her children are always on the lookout for ways to serve and sometimes fight over who gets to help. (like when they are at the store and see someone drop something unaware or need help returning a cart.) She said she wants to have shirts made with their family theme on it that they can all wear when they go out and do service projects.  I LOVE this idea.

Other favorite Service themes are JOY=Jesus Others You and Hands to Serve Hearts to God. Let your kids help come up with your family theme. You can make a night of it and use this as a teaching opportunity to explain why you want service to be such a focus in your family.

2-Family Service Projects

Growing up I loved to be in charge of setting up family service projects.  Whether it was raking leaves, shoveling snow, or cleaning windows we always had so much fun helping others.

Serving together strengthened our family bonds, and was tons of fun too. More often than not we would find ourselves talking about all sorts of things and laughing together as we worked.

3-Take a Meal to Someone in Need

Let's be honest when your life is in an upheaval (by having a baby, having a medical complication, being sick, or losing a loved one etc) cooking food is that last thing on your mind. And yet you and your family still need to eat.

I have been grateful for meals brought to my family during such times and I love to serve others in this way. I have my kids help me prepare and deliver the food and let them know why we are helping each family.

4-Make and Deliver Homeless Care Packages

My heart has always gone out to the homeless we encounter begging on the street. I refuse to get caught up on the "They brought this upon themselves", "They aren't homeless they are just con artists", or "they are just going to use whatever is given them for drugs and alcohol." mindset.  It is not my place to judge. It is my place to LOVE.

When I had first seen the idea of making care packages for the homeless with practical things that they could use I loved it. So I went out and bought a box of Gallon sized ziplocks, various food items like fruit cups, granola bars, Bottles of water, canned chicken,  Kleenex, some holiday sweets, and some plastic utensils.

We then set aside a night of dividing everything up into the different bags (we made 6 to give out) and added a Christmas note in each one to let the recipient know they were loved. Then the next night we went downtown and found people to give them too. The kids would point someone out and then help us give the care package saying Merry Christmas.  Next time we do this I think I'll put in some simple stretchy gloves, a pair of warm socks and maybe a homemade crocheted scarf in each package for the cold.

5-Donate Toys and Clothes

My husband and I are big on regularly going through our things and letting go of what we don't need or aren't using any more.  Then we take all the things that we are letting go of that are in good condition and donate it (throwing away the rest.) We do this about every 3 months or so. This helps us keep our home from getting overrun with stuff while serving others at the same time.

There are lots of places you can donate your used items to Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, neighbors, & family.

6-Save or Collect Money to Donate to Worthy Causes

I have some friends who have a jar where the whole family saves money all year and then anonymously give it to a family in need in the community at Christmas time each year.

There are also a ton of great organizations out there who serve people in need all around the world that you could save up and donate as a family to a few of my favorites are: The American Red Cross,  The Rising Star Outreach, & World Vision.

7- Collect Food and Needed Items for Local Shelters

I never realized how many different shelters there are in each state created to help those in need. And all of them rely heavily on local donations to keep them running.

Looking up what shelters are in your area is easy. After you pick a shelter you want to work with you can give them a call and ask what they need (they will usually have a list) then it's just a matter of collecting the items and dropping them off. This is a great service opportunity for your kids.

We had one kid in our neighborhood who for her birthday went around with her friends collecting items around the neighborhood to donate to a local shelter.  I am sure she got more satisfaction out of her birthday that year because she focused more on others than herself.

8-Go on Clean up Walks

This is an easy activity to help your children experience serving (even while really young.) People are always littering all over the place. The worst is when you find litter less than a foot away from a garbage can. I mean really, how lazy can people be.

For a cleanup walk, you have the kids bring grocery sacks with you on a walk and then have your kids keep their eyes out for any garbage that needs to be picked up along the way. If you are worried about germs you can have the kids wear latex gloves or something. You can make it a game to see who can gather the most trash etc. Little kids especially love this activity.

9-Visit the Elderly

Visiting the Elderly who live in your neighborhood, or local retirement/nursing home can be a lot of fun.  The elderly usually love the visits (some often don't get many visits and feel forgotten) As a prep for this activity call ahead and ask when the best time to come by would be. Help your kids make some cards to give out.  You can even give them some ideas of questions to ask those they visit.

10- Help with Food Kitchens

Some food kitchens and organizations have restrictions on how old you need to be to participate in serving food to the homeless in your area. Some require you to sign up because they get so many volunteers (This is especially true around the holidays)

I have had multiple friends who have taken their whole family (including their toddlers) to do this and have raved about what a great experience it was.  I totally want to take my family to do this sometime.

11-Make Kits (like newborn kits, bandage kits, school kits)

Certain Organizations like the American Red Cross are always gathering kits to donate locally and abroad. If you contact them they can tell you what items they need for the various kits and then you can gather/make them with your kids.

No Matter how you choose to serve, the important thing is to do so often. Make serving others a habit, not an event. After all, serving is just LOVE in action.  What is your favorite way to serve with your children?

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