It was a real eye-opening Sunday for me recently when our pastor’s talk at church focused on priorities.  Be it consciously or subconsciously, he explained that we do make time for things that are priorities in our lives.  Looking back over the last couple of days or weeks, what were your real ‘priorities’ based on how you actually spent your time.  Want to spend more time reading to your children, fostering friendships or building your relationship with God – do the hours of your day reflect this?

As parents it often feels like you are running from one necessity to another, and I have found that without thoughtful planning days can easily just slip by without time spent on the things that I really want to do.  Is spending time with your kids serving others something that you have been meaning to do?  Has it just not seemed to find it’s way to the top of the list?  Start now!  I encourage you to try one family service project activity a month this summer, I will be doing this same.  Be deliberate, plan, put it on the calendar, make serving others this summer a real priority!

Not sure where to start?  On my blog, the little hearts project, I recently posted a Super Six service project idea post which can be found here.   Want two of my favorite ideas perfect for summer, how about these:

Look out for your neighborhood mailman and garbage man.  Today as the temperatures soared into the mid 90’s in Michigan it was pretty brutal on those people who have to walk around outside for a living.  So my 3 year old and I gathered several cold drinks and distributed them to our mail carrier, the UPS guy and a person fixing the cable lines.  Such a simple unexpected gesture was truly appreciated by those that received it.  My three year old couldn’t believe how happy they were just to get a cold drink and was eager to find others we could help out!

Volunteer to take care of a neighbors flowers.  Part of our summer routine includes my almost two year old and I watering our potted plants everyday.  She loves to tote around her watering can, which is so small it requires about a dozen refills just to water 3 pots!  As your neighbors take off for summer vacations, offer to take care of their plants while they are gone.  While teaching responsibility and serving others, nothing goes together better in the summer months than kids and water!

I hope these ideas inspire you to make some great family memories this summer and to spend some time on your real priorities!

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