Well, we missed about two months. To say a lot has changed is putting it mildly. Two months ago, we lost our fourth baby at 38 weeks. Chase is a beautiful angel and rest in the arms of Jesus. For that, we are so happy. But we miss him, and we’ve spent the past couple of months making sense of everything and finding our new “normal”. The kids stopped asking about service projects, and I stopped feeling the motivation to serve. But several weeks ago I heard about the death of a young man who went to meet Jesus at the age of 21. And suddenly I wanted to serve everyone. I wanted to calm the fears of anyone who was scared, feed anyone who was hungry, love on anyone who felt alone…I once again felt the call of Jesus. And it suddenly became even more important to me that I instill certain values in my children. No matter how many medals they win, how many A’s they make on tests, or how many trophies line their walls, if they seek first the Kingdom of God, I have done my job. And to me, a large part of His kingdom is serving others.
So we started with something small – a donation to Goodwill of yet more stuff that we did not need. We have far too much stuff (don’t we all). And if we’re not using it, we should give it to someone who can. Here are the boys dropping off the “stuff”.
The boys were really excited when I told them we were going to do a service project – until I told them I had to take a photo of it. But they got back into the groove, and I explained what “goodwill” was. It was a nice welcome back into our mission, and it is my prayer that these projects instill in my children a love for serving others as if serving the Lord himself.
52 Weeks of Service 
I think what you are doing is beautiful. I read an old article in Family Fun magazine about a family who did this for a year, and it really impacted her family and community. Impressed by the article, I “googled” 52 weeks of service and found your blog. Thanks for the great ideas, and the way you inspired me not to lose heart, but press forward in service and joy.
You are so sweet! I am about to post a new entry too because the kids asked me two days ago why we had not done a service project in a while. They started brainstorming things we could do to help people. I was so happy – the seed is planted! Never lose heart and hope, there are so many people to help, but if we all just help a little, that little becomes a lot! Blessings to you!