When we were doing our RACK last December, the kids had a desire to continue our journey well beyond the Christmas season. At that time, I told them about the Birthday Project. In a nutshell, whatever year birthday a person is celebrating, that person does that number of random acts of kindness. For Isabella this year, she is turning 7 so she did 7 acts of kindness.
We discussed all the different possibilities that we could do and she settled on doing something special for other kids. We decided to go to the dollar store and buy little gifts appropriate for boys and girls of various ages. Isabella had a blast picking out little items to give away. We were all set to hit the town when Michael ended up in the hospital. That created a quick change of plans!
So now two weeks later, we were finally ready to complete our mission! I printed up cards similar to our RACK cards to give with each gift as a little explanation.
We wrapped a ribbon around each little item and attached our Birthday Project Card. We had things like Play-Doh, coloring books and crayons, books, etc . . .
We added some little party blower things and put everything in a bag. We were ready to go!
When we got to town we parked on the street so we could walk around to our various destinations. Before we even got out of the car, I had Isabella pray that God direct us to the right people. We then started by going to our local library. There we found three kids working on the computers. My daughter came down with a serious case of shyness. We stepped outside of the library and I reminded her why we were doing this. We then agreed that Michael would give the boy something, I would give a gift to one of the girls and Isabella would give a gift to the second girl. Michael said that he would go first to make Isabella feel better (what an awesome big brother!). So we gave the kids their gifts. They were a little surprised and confused to say the least! When we left the library, Isabella was flying high! She simply loved it. There was no stopping her now! We continued on to the hardware store. There we saw another girl with her dad. Isabella had no problems going up to her to give her a gift. We also saw a couple children in a coffee shop with their parents. We then headed to the grocery store. We only had little boy toys left, so Isabella said a quick prayer on the way into the store that God bring boys to us! Sure enough, He did! We found two different boys shopping with their parents. No girls in sight! If you added that all up, we actually gave out eight gifts. We bought ten gifts just because we didn't know what ages the children would be or if they would be boys or girls. We wanted to be prepared. Isabella was so excited that I could not refuse to let her give out number 8! :-)
Again, we have no idea how God will use these little gifts and cards. I do know how it changes my children. They get so excited to do for others. They come up with some great ideas. Michael is already planning out his birthday project for his 11th birthday in May.
As a side note, I had mentioned before about setting aside change throughout the year and also actively putting money in a "ministry" fund. We have started that with the children as well. On top of their tithe (you never want to take away from your local church), they take another 10% of any money they receive and put it in a ministry fund of their own. They will be able to use this for things like RACK and Birthday Projects, but also if they learn of a specific need that they want to give to. It will be interesting to see how God directs their little hearts when it comes to the spending of this money.
I am so grateful to be able to do this with my children. It is so good for everyone in our family. Although my husband cannot be with us when we do the majority of these things, he loves hearing the children tell him all about the people they ministered to during the day. He also faithfully prays for these people as well. He is so very supportive of our little ministry. He is a truly great man!
So that is the story of Isabella's birthday project! We are now counting down till May when it is Michael's turn. The kids are very excited about my birthday in July. They don't quite so how on earth we are going to do SO MANY random acts of kindness since I am going to be SO OLD! Gotta love those kiddos!
We discussed all the different possibilities that we could do and she settled on doing something special for other kids. We decided to go to the dollar store and buy little gifts appropriate for boys and girls of various ages. Isabella had a blast picking out little items to give away. We were all set to hit the town when Michael ended up in the hospital. That created a quick change of plans!
So now two weeks later, we were finally ready to complete our mission! I printed up cards similar to our RACK cards to give with each gift as a little explanation.
We wrapped a ribbon around each little item and attached our Birthday Project Card. We had things like Play-Doh, coloring books and crayons, books, etc . . .
We added some little party blower things and put everything in a bag. We were ready to go!
When we got to town we parked on the street so we could walk around to our various destinations. Before we even got out of the car, I had Isabella pray that God direct us to the right people. We then started by going to our local library. There we found three kids working on the computers. My daughter came down with a serious case of shyness. We stepped outside of the library and I reminded her why we were doing this. We then agreed that Michael would give the boy something, I would give a gift to one of the girls and Isabella would give a gift to the second girl. Michael said that he would go first to make Isabella feel better (what an awesome big brother!). So we gave the kids their gifts. They were a little surprised and confused to say the least! When we left the library, Isabella was flying high! She simply loved it. There was no stopping her now! We continued on to the hardware store. There we saw another girl with her dad. Isabella had no problems going up to her to give her a gift. We also saw a couple children in a coffee shop with their parents. We then headed to the grocery store. We only had little boy toys left, so Isabella said a quick prayer on the way into the store that God bring boys to us! Sure enough, He did! We found two different boys shopping with their parents. No girls in sight! If you added that all up, we actually gave out eight gifts. We bought ten gifts just because we didn't know what ages the children would be or if they would be boys or girls. We wanted to be prepared. Isabella was so excited that I could not refuse to let her give out number 8! :-)
Again, we have no idea how God will use these little gifts and cards. I do know how it changes my children. They get so excited to do for others. They come up with some great ideas. Michael is already planning out his birthday project for his 11th birthday in May.
As a side note, I had mentioned before about setting aside change throughout the year and also actively putting money in a "ministry" fund. We have started that with the children as well. On top of their tithe (you never want to take away from your local church), they take another 10% of any money they receive and put it in a ministry fund of their own. They will be able to use this for things like RACK and Birthday Projects, but also if they learn of a specific need that they want to give to. It will be interesting to see how God directs their little hearts when it comes to the spending of this money.
I am so grateful to be able to do this with my children. It is so good for everyone in our family. Although my husband cannot be with us when we do the majority of these things, he loves hearing the children tell him all about the people they ministered to during the day. He also faithfully prays for these people as well. He is so very supportive of our little ministry. He is a truly great man!
So that is the story of Isabella's birthday project! We are now counting down till May when it is Michael's turn. The kids are very excited about my birthday in July. They don't quite so how on earth we are going to do SO MANY random acts of kindness since I am going to be SO OLD! Gotta love those kiddos!
Good Morning. Thanks for stopping in over at my end - and for letting me know you were there :) Yes, indeed, "RACKs" are a great way to celebrate Birthdays, Advent - and for that matter - each/every/any day & life in general! :) By teaching your kids as you are, you are encouraging them to BE what they ARE.... a blessing :)
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