Service Jar- Week 3

This week our service was to participate in a food drive.  Coincidentally, they announced a food drive at church for Mission Greenspoint.  We got a list of items that were needed in Lanier's bible study.  I though it would be easy to shop for each item off of the list.  I gave the girls the list and let them go around Kroger to pick out the items.  While I was doing my own shopping, the girls took their own buggy around the store. 

Funny story.  The first two items on the list are 15 oz. green beans and 15 oz. corn.  Halle didn't realize that you were suppose to get canned veggies.  It was my fault that I didn't explain that before I let her loose.  She came back to me frustrated and saying that the list said to get 15 ounces, but the scale didn't read in ounces.  She had spent a long time trying to perfectly measure out fresh produce on the scale.  hahahaha! 

Halle with her fresh corn and fresh green beans

The girls did a good job getting the items on the list.  Because this particular week they aren't getting to interact directly with anyone, I tried to drive home some points. 

1. The simpler points I emphasized to my four year old is that not everyone is like her.  Some people are sick, poor, and don't have the essentials like us.  We can show God's love by helping them with their physical needs, whether they are deserving or undeserving by our standards.  "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 

2. After Halle got fresh produce, we discussed perishable vs. non-perishable items.  We talked about the meaning of perish.  Some of the meanings were rot, die, spoil, suffer destruction, and expire.  She then remembered that the word, "perish," is used in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life." 

3.  We talked about where our heart is when we are giving, whether it's through tithing, or through giving to others.  Jesus doesn't merely look at your actions, but he looks at where your heart is at in your giving.  Although it doesn't perfectly fit our service project this week, I used the story of the poor widow's offering in Luke 21:1-4 as an example.  I also tried to emphasize that our actions and obedience never lead to salvation, but it is our faith that saves us.  Instead, our actions are a product and reflection  of our faith (not the other way around.) 

So finally I asked them if they would like to chip in some of their own money to pay for the food.  I didn't request a specific amount, but asked that they give what they wanted.  I wanted them to focus on putting their heart in the right place rather than just performing the action because they felt guilted into it or like mama was making them.  They both decided to give, and I was proud of their choices. 

Although it was a lot of lessons to teach in one week, and that they might not have fully absorbed all that I intended, I think we all are coming to understand what these weekly service acts are about.