Last year, I came up with the idea of Volunteer week. I noticed that the boys are really (really, really, really) self-absorbed and thought it would be good to try to do something for someone else. This was our first Volunteer Week, so we started small. Here is how it went:
1) We survived!
2) Monday, we picked up trash in the forest. We not only picked up several garbage bags of trash, but no one got poison ivy! It was so hot that we could not do as much of this as we would have liked…we hope to pick up trash on the walk to the store another time, but hey, it was a start.
3) Then, we got to work on the play version of Jonah and the Clown Fish. We took the script from the movie we made last summer and converted it to a four person play. We made props (our head-dresses came out great!) and learned our lines.
4) Thursday, we brought pizza to my brother, who is disabled and does not get out, and performed our dress rehearsal for him. He found it pretty stressful, as we weren’t too smooth…but I think he appreciated the effort. He certainly appreciated the pizza.
5) Today, we went to Lynn House–the Christian Science Nursing Home where my mom works. We put on Jonah and the Clown Fish for an audience of between six and ten people (a few came and went.) We were a bit rough, but it was great fun. And as an added bonus we saw my friend Pat, who was in town helping out at Lynn House.
So…over all, I’d call Volunteer Week a success. Hopefully, as the boys grow, we can get more ambitious.
It sounds like a really great idea, Jagi!
Along those lines is why we encourage Fred Camp for Autumn in the summer.
Ben is pretty much the opposite of self-absorbed so I think volunteering will come as naturally to him as breathing.
>Ben is pretty much the opposite of self-absorbed so I think volunteering will come as naturally to him as breathing.
I think you are right. Maybe Ben needs “Ben Week” ;-)
Time out
I’m taking a “Jacob Week” next month. I seriously need to refocus…become more mindful of my own spiritual duties and needs that I’ve become somewhat neglectful of…to regather my wits so to speak. Unfortunately, work, as much as I might enjoy what I do, has become something of an impediment to that. So, I’ve decided I need to take a break from it.
Perhaps, if it weren’t for all of the confusion that accompanied my return to Christianity, it might not have been necessary. However, those questions have been more or less satisfied. I just need to work with the answers a little more :) My apologies if I’m not making sense. I hope to have a full post up about it soon.
Another step in the road, I suppose.
Re: Time out
I remember that you were dealing with confusion. Very happy if some sense of order is coming back into your experience!
Do you have any plans of how to spend “Jacob Week”? (I am reminded, for some reason, of the occasional week I spent at the Zen monastary where my dad used to go. The experience was intense…but a wonderful time to pray and contemplate. I even brought John there for a weekend once.)
Re: Time out
“I am reminded, for some reason, of the occasional week I spent at the Zen monastary where my dad used to go. The experience was intense…but a wonderful time to pray and contemplate. I even brought John there for a weekend once.”
I suppose that is a good approximation :) Sounds very interesting. Never been to one myself. Which is somewhat surprising, given how much a fan I was in my early 20’s (still am, in many respects).
“Do you have any plans of how to spend “Jacob Week”?”
Nothing real concrete. Prayer, contemplation, and study :) Of course, I intend on resting to (video games and such).
Back when I left homelessness, I remember how focused I was…how on top of the world I felt. I would like to return to that. It was a life ordered by reason. It was completely unlike anything in my life that I had known before. Beforehand, I felt like I was being tossed about on waves…not knowing where I was going…not knowing how to escape. Reason showed me the way out. That is the life I wish to return to.
Re: Time out
I, too, have found that difficult times sometimes bring out the best in us…and I also agree that we should be able to find that in peaceful times if we apply ourselves (rather than having to induce trouble. ;-)
Best wishes for “Jacob Week” (I have this image of you spending some of the time wrestling with an angel, like your Biblical namesake. ;-)
Re: Time out
That is a very fitting image. It is the one that I most sympathized with when I followed Judaism, and perhaps describes me even better now.
What a great idea to encourage ones kids to do something useful for others!
When I was young, I was a bit like Ben mentioned above. By the age of ten, I’d already been volunteering at a local museum for two years. I used to enjoy rushing to help people.
…my boys aren’t like that. They don’t really notice other people. I wanted them to learn how joyful it is to help others.
It was a little start…but we’ll keep it up each year. ;-)
I’m betting new sister will be a help, too. Speaking of which, Ava asks if you have a travel date yet!
Not yet. It can take up to a month, which would mean a month from earlier this week, to get the Travel Approval (TA). Once we get that, then we will be given a travel date.
But, Official Chinese offices are all closed in October, due to a holiday…so it will be September or early Nov. (Hoping for Sept…so it’s not last minute!)
Wow…
What a wonderful idea :) You are such a great mom. Sounds like fun, too.
D-
Re: Wow…
Thanks!!!
One does one’s best.