Service: A Preparation Ground

"Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?"

#223 Have I Done Any Good?

Last night I attended a Young Women activity where we discussed preparing for temple marriage. See more about temples, here! 

Family Trip to attend the Brigham City, UT temple open house. Our family is shrinking!

Celebrating a Temple and Celestial Marriage

One of the preparation ideas we discussed was looking outside oneself and practice serving others. Doing this will help prepare for a future family which is the epitome of service. As we spend time in our families serving others, we deepen this desire. When the time comes for our children to marry, they will have a more successful marriage because service is part of them.

We had a marvelous opportunity to serve as a family a few months ago. It is rare when we can get everyone together, especially those busy working and college kids. We came together to serve a friend in need of a kidney transplant. Our family was in charge of a game and the prize booth at a benefit carnival. What a blessing to think of another and have a good time, too!

Setting up the Prizes

Getting his Guess in

The Muscle Power

Ready for the kids to roll in

Five people needed to keep order at the prize booth

They had time to have some fun, too!

My Favorite - The Fish Pond!

Why do kids love this stuff so much?

She won three cakes at the cake walk!

These two boys spent most of their free time at the cake walk, resulting in 1 cake total.

Not a fan of colored hair..but it was for the cause.

Lovin' the blue hair...

...and the cotton candy!

The Ninja Sword - the most exciting find of the night!

I love this story, told by Thomas S. Monson:

"A few years ago I read an article written by Jack McConnell, MD. He grew up in the hills of southwest Virginia in the United States as one of seven children of a Methodist minister and a stay-at-home mother. Their circumstances were very humble. He recounted that during his childhood, every day as the family sat around the dinner table, his father would ask each one in turn, “And what did you do for someone today?” The children were determined to do a good turn every day so they could report to their father that they had helped someone. Dr. McConnell calls this exercise his father’s most valuable legacy, for that expectation and those words inspired him and his siblings to help others throughout their lives. As they grew and matured, their motivation for providing service changed to an inner desire to help others." October, 2009  - What Have I Done for Someone Today?

Today's Stick-to-it Tip: Ask your children, "What did you do for someone today?" Create opportunities for service...it's a preparation ground for the future.

More to Come, but until then, Stick-to-it!