Teach Your Kids to Give Using the Once-a-Month Strategy (August)
I didn’t want to give this month.
Our leaky bathroom stole all our money and now giving is dead to me. This once-a-month journey to better share God’s love by giving and serving others more – dumb idea. (If you want to read about why we started this giving/serving more journey, click here.)
Yet – big sigh – God had other plans.
Our church felt called to help buy school supplies for those in need. My heart tugged but my head stood firm in skipping giving this month. Besides, I’d just spent approximately $125,987.45 at Target buying my own kids’ school supplies.
Later that day, my younger two sons and I were grabbing groceries and when we passed the school supplies, God whispered to my heart: Buy them.
(What?!? I’ve decided to harden my heart on this one…)
But, before deciding to bail on this journey, I’d also committed to listening to God’s voice in my heart and then…actually following. Selfishly, I’d love to be a little closer to that joy talked about in scripture that comes from knowing God and participating in His work:
“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8, NLT)
“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will
overflow!” (John 15:11, NLT)
So when I felt God’s nudging in the store, I decided to move and put school supplies in the cart.
But sometimes, God works in funny ways.
Later that evening I was surprised by a huge blessing. My neighbor asked if I wanted to go through her work clothes before she donated them. I needed to buy more professional clothes but after our more-expensive-than-we-anticipated bathroom remodel, my clothing budget plummeted to negative numbers. But then three cute dresses and a bunch of nice shirts appeared – God met a need.
It reminded me of the saying, “What goes around comes around.” Or Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you.”
I’ve heard sermons on unexpected blessings you receive when giving but for some reason, I’ve had a hard time believing that really happens. Yet the timing in this situation makes it hard for me to deny that God blessed me. I felt humbled. And a fire was lit for next month’s giving adventure.
| Our family’s Once-a-Month Giving/Service Projects was featured on parenting.com. (This blog’s original name was Since I Became a Mom before it became Empowered Moms and Kids.) |
Just in case you missed it:
If you decide to take use this giving strategy, remember this is YOUR THING. Do what God places on YOUR HEART. Whatever works, big or little. Your family will be moved by however you decide to extend your hand. And hopefully, so will the people you give to.
Read what parenting.com says about the benefits of teaching kids to give:
“The benefits of actively fostering children’s charitable impulses are enormous. Besides helping counter the overdeveloped ‘gimme’ impulse, it gives kids a powerful boost in self-esteem to realize they can make a difference in someone’s life. ‘And as corny as it sounds,’ says Patricia Schiff Estess, a New York City writer and the author of Kids, Money & Values, ‘when you help a child help others, you are helping to create a better world.'”
- Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Favorite eye-opening books that nudged me to see the amazing part of God’s work that we can do daily. Exciting stuff we get to be a part of.
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Photo by Brandon Wong on Unsplash
Cheryl is a mom of 3 boys, wife, speaker, high school teacher, and author of Empowered Moms & Kids. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is passionate about learning and teaching. On www.empoweredmomsandkids.com you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for moms raising tweens and/or teens. Read more in the “about” section of this page.
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Hi. 🙂 I just ran into your site. Can't wait to read more!! Funny about your post, the same thing happened to me too 2 weeks ago… I had previously entered an online drawing to win a copy of Jen Hatmaker's book "Interrupted". A couple weeks went by and I had actually forgotten about it. In my mail arrived this great looking Autumn / Fall magazine from Better Homes & Gardens. It was wrapped in plastic addressed to someone that lived a few blocks away from me. I wanted to open it and read it SO bad, as I have a HUGE crush on the holidays, but I didn't. I felt a tug at my heart to return the magazine to the person on the address label. I made up my mind to return it to her. I even prayed to God and told him that I would return it. That same day, I get an email from Proverbs 31 Ministries that I had won the Jen Hatmaker book. I was like "Whoa!" A couple weeks later, I finally had time and I took my toddler son for that walk a few blocks away and returned the magazine to the lady. After I got home, the book I had won was waiting for me in my mailbox. God has His ways. And yes, "what comes around goes around." I just started blogging last month. It's always awesome to meet another friend in Christ!! Hope to stay in touch. 😉 Cindy from http://www.inspirememama.com
Thanks for your comment! I replied on your blog! What a great blog!
Thank you so much. I love your comment on my page. 🙂 I just posted a new blog right now, so if you're having a bad day, maybe it will make your heart smile.
P.S. If we lived closer, I would let you take pics of my son & I. You have & take beautiful pics!!
Thank you! I would have loved to take your pictures!:) I will definitely be back to visit your blog.