A 52 Week Blessing Adventure

Happy 2014 everyone! This is the time of year when lots of people are looking at making changes to their lives, maybe making some New Year's Resolutions. Some people will decide to eat better, some to exercise more and maybe some to stop smoking or other behavior change; all of these are great endeavors to fully enjoy the life that God has granted us. This year however, our family has made a resolution of a different kind. We have chosen to journey through this year striving to bless someone each week.

Each year we are given 52 weeks. What we do with those 52 weeks is up to us!

Our family loves to do service activities together. We typically complete one service project a month, sometimes more and sometimes less. However, this year we are going to try and complete a type of service project or blessing to someone each week. That is 52 blessings!

I have to be honest the idea both scares me and excites me. I am so excited that we are focusing on blessing others. Our family is so blessed by people on a regular basis that it is truly great for us to "pay it forward," as people often say. Our children learn so much from serving others: they learn compassion, generosity, humility, empathy, and to put others in front of themselves. I wonder what we will learn and experience.....this excites me. However, the idea of planning, scheduling and executing 52 different blessings scares me. I don't know if I am that creative, or if I have enough time and money to take on such a challenge. Having this "resolution" go from a fun family adventure to a stress filled chore....this scares me.

I by nature am a planner, so I have developed a formula for our 52 week quest. There are basically 4 weeks in each month. Therefore, I have a four week guideline, knowing that there are activities and events that our family is regularly involved in that will hopefully take up the extra week that may come in a month. Here is the plan: one week each month we will bake something for a group of people (teachers, fireman, lifeguards etc); one week we will work with an organization (nursing home, humane society, homeless shelter etc.); one week we will make or collect something (hats & gloves, cards, pillowcase dresses etc); and one week we will go physically do something (rake leaves, pick up trash, clean toys). Some of the activities could fall into more than one category, but it is a nice guideline that helps me feel better. :-)

I would love to encourage you and your family to consider joining us in this wonderful challenge. Imagine how we could impact the world for the Kingdom of Heaven if we all took the challenge to bless others each and every week? If that is a bit overwhelming at this time (I completely understand that feeling!) maybe you and your family could consider completing a service type project each month. I know that after your family spends a whole year serving and blessing others you will see the blessings that God gives you each and everyday in a whole new way.

If you are looking for a few ideas to help you with your family service ideas, click on the "Let's Serve Together" tab and see if there are some ideas that will work well for you and your family. I would love to hear what your family is doing and how your blessing adventure is going. No matter how you choose to spend your 52 weeks, may you and your family be truly blessed in 2014!