Since we were able to sit down as a family, and discuss our feelings (good or bad) about all the activities, I feel like I can now share what we thought, what we'd change, what we can't wait to do again. I'll run through them one by one, and if there is a pic, I'll share that too.
1. Pass out coupons at a local restaurant or shop:
We did this three separate times, and this was hands down the least favorite activity. Not "hands down" because it was so awful and we got such horrible responses. Actually, the opposite would be true. People really responded wonderfully to receiving coupons. The kids were told "Merry Christmas!" and "Thank You!" many times over. Also, they loved walking up to a stranger and giving them a coupon. No, it ended up being the least favorite by everyone because of the time involved. I WAY underestimated how much time this would take. I thought it would be super quick and easy. Actually, each time we went out (three times total) we were gone for well over an hour. And this hour was during the dinner rush, so we could catch people going into the restaurants, which also happened to be our dinner time too. Also, since I didn't think this activity would take too much time or effort, I had chosen days that we were a bit on the busier side. Hungry and hurried was a bad combo. It left a bad taste in every one's mouth.
When we sat down and discussed this activity we concluded that sometimes serving others takes a lot of patience. Many times it also takes a sacrifice of time. And some of the time it isn't comfortable or easy. We also discussed that if serving required patience, sacrifice of time, and lack of comfort and ease, does that mean we should avoid it. Also, in discussion, we pondered: Does God ever ask us to do things that are hard, uncomfortable, or a huge sacrifice.
Good stuff. Good stuff.
Here they are on our first night, not really knowing the wait they were in for, ready to give out coupons:
2. Put change for a drink in a Ziploc bag and tape it to a couple of vending machines with a special note:
This activity was fun and easy. There wasn't a very big impact, though. We didn't hang around to see who got the change. However, that doesn't mean it didn't bless someone. We talked about making an impact on others and remaining invisible/not serving others just so you can reap a reward.
3. Make Christmas treats for our local firehouse:
This one was interesting. We got busy that day and I didn't have treats ready until after normal business hours of our local firehouse. What that meant was that no one was a the front desk, the doors were locked, and everything was dark. It also meant that I had to ring the emergency bell.
*Ahem*
I'm not sure if those guys were as thrilled to receive cookies as much as they were left wondering what a crazy lady, who came with her two kids, in the snow, later in the evening, to drop off cookies was all about.
Yup, fairly certain there are some fake smiles in that group.
5. Bring colors and color books to local hospital waiting rooms:
This was another activity that I know was helpful and appreciated by the staff at our local Children's Hospital. However, and thankfully, there were no children there the day we dropped them off. The staff thanked the kids profusely, but after that day, neither child brought this activity up again. It was like they checked Advent off the list for the day. Not really what I was hoping for, but again, we don't serve others to gain recognition for ourselves.
6. Pass out coupons at a local restaurant or shop. (See #1)
7. Hide dollar bills on different products/toys at the dollar shop in our area:
The kids both really loved this one. Again, it wasn't something that we got thanked for or really one that anyone noticed at the time. However, the kids loved finding just that special something that they hoped someone would want, and then would have the means to buy it. I loved seeing what the kids picked out. The Little Man picked toys. I could just see his little mind working. He was thinking, "If I came to this store and found this awesome toy, then asked my mom if I could have it, I bet she would say no. But then! THEN! I would find this dollar and BAM! I could get it!"
At least that's how I think the conversation in his head went.
The Girl, she went about what she chose differently. She thought about what people would need, and maybe are having a hard time affording. So she hid her dollars in the baby aisle.
In both cases, my heart melted for sure.
Someone asked me, "What if the workers were the ones who found the money, and they just kept it for themselves?" I guess that could happen, and if it did, we prayed that it would be a worker who really needed the money.
8. Leave a treat and note of thanks for our mailman in the mailbox:
Did she really like the cookies that much? I don't know, but I was very thankful and happy for her thankfulness.
9. Collect and put away carts in a shopping center parking lot:
Both the kids and I LOVED this activity. It was super freezing cold, very dark, and we were in a very busy parking lot, but somehow we managed to have a great time, and no one got killed. We got to learn a very important lesson: When you tell someone "thank you", you should always look them in the eye, smile, and have a cheerful and sincere voice. Sometimes people can say "thanks", but their body language says something very different.
I could have told them that over and over. Oh wait, I have. So for them to actually experience it, was pure gold. They totally get it now.
Thank you, less than grateful lady in the parking lot.
10. Clean out toy room and donate toys to local toy charity:
This one didn't work out as well as I had hoped. We got the toy room cleaned out, and the kids really were great about getting rid of stuff with the intention of giving it to someone who would love it. However, I guess everyone does this at this time of year, and I did ours way too late in the game. All the local charities were no longer accepting donations for gently use toys. We still have them and will hopefully be dropping stuff off in the spring. I wish I would have know that earlier.
11. Pass out coupons at a local restaurant or shop:
See number 1.
12. Treats and note of appreciation to our school secretaries and principals.
13. Treats and note of appreciation to our school janitor:
I'm going to combine 12 and 13 together because they basically were the same. I love that these were The Girl's ideas to think of these people. I also love that the principal sent us a thank you note over the break. We are learning the value of heart felt thank you's.
14. Spend the day focusing on kindness. Look people in the eye, smile at everyone, and give compliments generously:
This one was hard for me to monitor. The kids were at school all day so I have no idea if what they did at school was what they said they did. Not that I think they are lied, but I am sure school wasn't too conducive to this particular task. We did, however, work on this throughout the Advent activities. Especially after the lesson learned in number 9.
15. Send a care package to someone in need of company this Christmas:
Loved this one! The kids did too. We took care of my youngest sister who was away from home for her first time this Christmas. When she called us crying, and telling us how much it meant that she got that package on that particular day, it was really special. This is one of those activities that I totally saw God's hand put pieces together.
16. Leave a present with our tip for our waiter/waitress:
This was a really fun activity too. I was worried what it would be like. I mean what if our server that night was a total jerk, or just really bad? Thankfully, our server turned out to be really good, super nice, and very attentive. At the end of dinner we pulled out our movie theater sized boxes of candy, used the receipt to leave a note saying, "Thanks for making our night so sweet", and then left it under the bill. The kids totally waited to see what she would do when she saw what we left. They were happy to report that she smiled really big.
17. Visit a nursing home with homemade cards for the residents:
This particular activity did not go the way I thought it would at all. The kids spent most of the afternoon making several cards for some of the seniors living at at local senior home. I thought for sure they would be very excited to drop them off and to sit and chat for a bit. Well, I thought that The Girl would like to do that and The Little Man I would help along. In actuality, it was totally the opposite. The Girl said that this was her least favorite activity of the entire Advent season. I could tell too just by looking at her. She was super uncomfortable around the folks that received our cards, and had a difficult time striking up any conversation. The Little Man, on the other hand, passed out his cards and then played a little X Box with a few of them.
At Christmas breakfast, when we discussed our Advent together, The Girl said she just felt really uncomfortable around a bunch of older people who didn't know her but wanted to talk to her. We discussed how God has asked us to care for the widows and orphans, and how many of those people in that facility are widowed. We discussed how important it is for people to feel loved and cared for, and how lonely these people could be. She didn't really change her mind, but that's OK. God gives each of us a heart for something different. This just wasn't her thing.
Here are some of the sweet people we met that day:
18. Give an appreciation gift to our pastor and his wife:
Just a quick drop off of a Panera gift card for our Pastor and his wife and a note that let them know how much we appreciate how they have cared for our family and the families in our church.
19. Pass out meal coupons (fully paid for meals), to those who may go hungry that night:
This was another one that the timing was perfectly orchestrated. The Hubs just happened to have a block of time in which he could spare, so he was our driver. This proved to be essential for two reasons: 1. It snowed that day and I am no good at driving in the snow and 2. Because of the snow there were not as many homeless people out on the streets. Thankfully, most of them were seeking shelter. That meant that we needed as many eyes as we could get to find people to pass our coupons out too. It also meant that these coupons not only fed the person that got them, but it allowed them to seek shelter and warmth for a while. Again, the fingerprints of God were all over this one. Because of previous experiences in our Advent activities, the kids really made sure that they caught the person's eyes, smiled at them, and said Merry Christmas. Thankfully, each person was very gracious and thankful. This activity happened to be one of my favorites. I hope in the next year to find a way to serve these people more.
20. Hide small toys in a park with a note for the kids who find them:
Unfortunately, the toys were bought for this activity, but we never got the chance to hide them. Turns out, in December, it snows a lot. So either it was snowing, or the parks were buried in snow. We will donate the toys with the other gently used toys we cleaned out of our toy room.
21. Bring goodies and note of thanks to our local librarians.
This was pretty fun. We go to our local library quite frequently. My kids read like crazy, so it was only appropriate that we thank them for helping us to enjoy reading so much. They were ever so grateful and were surprised that we thought of them. I love that they felt loved.
22. Donate food to our local food bank:
This was my other favorite. Our local food bank serves over 500 families in our small town. FIVE HUNDRED. These are kids who go to our schools, families who we see at the parks, people who we may interact with on some level somewhere in our community, and they are hungry. The man that was accepting donations that day took us on a tour of the facility and explained how everything worked. It was fascinating. He said that after six months (on average) 80% of the people who use the pantry are back up on their feet again and do not require assistance any longer. Many of them come back as volunteers. That is a great success rate. My heart was full that day, and I totally see myself back there again soon to donate my time.
23. Bring goodies to all of our neighbors:
This was especially fun this year because we have new neighbors. I have enjoyed getting to know them more, and hope to be able to know them better in the new year.
24. Leave diapers and wipes at a couple of changing stations:
Honestly, we skipped this one. Here's the deal. After about the half way mark, these Advent activities became very difficult to keep up with. The kids were burning out, and I was burning out trying to keep them from burning out. While all of the activities got done, some got done on different days than we originally planned, and this one got left out all together. I really prayed a lot through out this Advent, and I felt like there were some things that just were things to check off a list. I didn't want that. When we were more open to being spirit led, instead of being task oriented, our activities touched our hearts much more deeply.
All in all, I did really love our Advent this year. It was a LOT of work. No joke. And it was also during an already busy time of the year. I would like to do something similar next year, but there will be some tweaks to it.
I think having a couple of days where we can do fun things as a family would be a great way to recharge batteries and prevent burn out. That works very well with the fact that some of the activities were not liked as much. Does that mean that all activities we don't like we don't have to do? No. It means that I would like to spend more time praying over activities before making our list of stuff to do rather than making a list and then praying that what we do would bless people. Next year, I hope to be more spirit led and less task oriented, so I might also consider lightening the load during the time when the kids are in school, after school activities, and all the other things that come along with the Christmas season to make it totally nuts. Even though I say I would want to make some tweaks, I would still do it again.
Prayerfully, next year we will.
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