In 5th grade the students at our school have the option of doing the Great American program where they have to memorize all 50 states and capitals, learn the national anthem, memorize the preamble to the constitution and a bunch of other things I can't remember. They have a few optional projects to choose from like memorizing the Gettysburg Address (Grace did that last week smarty pants girl) and then they need to complete 3 hours of service. The twins did a diaper drive for refugees and today we got to drop off the diapers at the Utah Refugee Connection warehouse.
I can't imagine what it would be like to take my children and have to flee my home and go to a different country with very few belongings and where so many things were foreign to me. Language, culture, customs, food etc...
I am so grateful for organizations like the Utah refugee connection and others like it (Lifting Hands International is another good one) that help people in need and make it so accessible for families like mine to help serve even in a small way.
Such a great reminder to me and hopefully to my kiddos, that we are so incredibly fortunate and that as followers of Jesus Christ, the best way we can follow Him is by serving others. Service projects like this are so great, but I heard something a few weeks ago in a church meeting that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
In the parable about the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan served the person who was right in his path. Sometimes the greatest service we can do is for people who are right in our path while we are going about our normal routines. Everyone we meet is going through something...even if you can't see it. I've been thinking about that a lot lately and am trying to work on serving those right in front of me; at the store, library, school, church etc... and at home. It's a work in progress for sure but I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve.
I am SUPER grateful for these amazing twins who have been such a source of light and joy in my life for almost 11 YEARS!!!!
How is that even possible?
