This week, our family has the most amazing opportunity: I have met a new friend, reconnected with a neighbor, and lost myself in the service of others during a most difficult and trying time. Let me tell you about it…

Our twins wanted to go to Disney. We thought about going to celebrate their birthday. I had heard about giving a day of service and getting a day to go to Disney. What a wonderful program! (They are definitely getting a thank you note.) I felt that giving service was a great idea and I wanted our family to be a part of this experience. We can give something to help someone, and, in the process, we get to celebrate as a family.

So, my son did some research, and we went through the list of possible service opportunities. My daughter is recovering from surgery, so we needed an opportunity to serve while being at home. Conkerr Cancer had the opportunity to serve by making pillowcases for smiles. We purchased bright colored fabric, followed the directions for making the pillowcases and set out to make pillowcases for children who need to have good things in their lives.

This opportunity for service also appealed to me because our family has been through a difficult experience with a sick child last summer. Daily trips to the hospital over an hour away from home, caring for the older siblings of the sick child, just not knowing what was going on, and wanting more than anything to be able to do something to help (yet feeling the hopelessness of not being able to help), and remembering this experience all made us want to help other families with children struggling with serious diseases.

I approached my family. Everyone was in agreement. A Saturday would not work for us, so we have spent this week making pillowcases. We have learned a system, and each person in our family contributes what they can. Even the children too young to participate and get the Disney prize have been involved in our family service project. The members of our family serve as they can–before or after work, after school; they come and they go, and we work together. We have made several trips to the fabric stores and have perfected a process of cutting and sewing. Our smaller children turn and fold the pillowcases; our older children pin and cut the fabric. We had a little resistance which had to be overcome, but we have been so blessed by this project.

One of the highlights of the week was when one of my grandsons asked if we can keep making pillowcases even after we are finished with our Disney pillowcases. I had already decided that this was a cause we could keep serving. My daughter shared that we could ask the women at church to set aside a night to sew pillowcases and make a project of helping each other.

I have met Carol, the local coordinator for this project. We had a lovely phone call where we became acquainted, and now I have a new friend. I am so excited to meet her in person as I drop off the pillowcases. I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience. I will not tell you that it has been easy. It has not. We have had many problems arise, not from sewing pillowcases, but from life. Carol has been encouraging and accommodating to help us reach our goal. I discovered that a group of ladies will be meeting this Saturday to make pillowcases at a local fabric store. How blessed we are to live in a community where service is important!

All of these blessings have come to us because we said “yes” to the opportunity to serve. It started out as a way to “earn” a day at Disney, but it became a bigger, more important cause to us. I think we will even discuss it as we take our children to Disney. How grateful I am that our children and grandchildren have seen the higher purpose and want to help others. I recommend this cause to everyone. The website is www.conkerrcancer.org. Explore the site. Watch the powerpoint and see if you can help.

I encourage you to find a way to serve. It is the most rewarding experience we can have, to give back. I have wondered how the children who receive the pillowcases will feel. I hope that they understand the loving care that we have given and that they feel that someone somewhere out there is praying for them and hoping that their day is a little brighter because of a pillowcase.

How have you served someone today?

So, today February begins…the month that’s hard to spell, the month we celebrate with pink & red, the month we think of warming our hearts with love.

As I am thinking of February, I am pondering the ways I can show love to those who mean so much to me by scattering some sunshine. Yesterday, I took a meal to a dear person whom I love. She has done much for me over the years, and, though I didn’t see her when I delivered a meal for her family, I felt blessed to return some of the sunshine she has scattered in my life.

Sometimes, I feel sunshine scattered into my life through a kind word, a gentle touch, or a sweet smile. I hope that, in the moments I spend with others, I am scattering sunshine as I read a story, share a treat, or laugh with a loved one till my cheeks hurt!!

In this month of hearts of pink and crimson, take a moment to scatter some bright yellow sunshine along your area of the world. You never know what may happen when you blend your red hearts with golden sunshine–you just might glow till March!!!

Yesterday, I was helping with a service activity. There were many people who I only knew through service experiences we have shared. We accomplished what we needed to accomplish, and I was waiting for a family member who had a few other things to get done. I was sitting on a sofa in the foyer. A person who had been serving with me stopped to say goodbye. This person took a few steps toward the door, turned around and said: “Do you know that I love you?” It was unexpected, but I replied, “I love you, too.” Then I thought, how kind. How many times do we say “I love you” in a day?

All day long I thought about this little act of kindness which changed how I felt. I wasn’t sad, but all of a sudden, my heart felt a little lighter. I felt more confident, more empowered. I have been pondering how I can express my love more often. And do I tell people I know, not members of my family, that I love them often enough? Do I just assume that they know that I love them? And if we all express our love for each other more often, how will that change the world?

Yesterday, my parents celebrated their 53rd anniversary. We tried to call and sing the Anniversary Song, but left it as a message instead since they were gone to a Christmas party. I have been reminiscent lately, so I was thinking about the things I learned in my family. The list is long, but there are some common themes running through.

I think that the most important thing I learned, after knowing that my Heavenly Father loved me and I should obey the commandments, was that, as a family, we take care of each other. Whenever one of us was in a jam or needed help, we all pitched in until whatever was completed. My mom would stay up late typing my papers. I remember one time, especially. We were up working on a plantation for a history project. We glued felt to milk cartons for the buildings. We put green on the ground for grass and set it all up on a board so that I can turn it in the next morning. Mom stuck right with me.

I learned to take care of other people. We always had a houseful of people. My mom and sometimes my dad would cook fabulous breakfasts and huge dinners to feed all of the people they invited to join us. Our friends were always welcome. During High School, we attended a class at church before school. Then, we would bring a group of friends home and my mother would have grits (I am from the South), eggs (made the way you liked them), bacon or ham, fried sweet potatoes or French fries and her specialty, biscuits. We would have juice and milk and chocolate milk to drink. I didn’t appreciate the work she went to then (breakfast was not a meal I ate) but my siblings and our friends enjoyed it.

I learned to be kind, helpful and to keep confidences. My father had his own construction company and was a leader in the church. There were meetings at our house and we learned to never say anything about who came or went from our home. I learned early in life that it is important to keep to myself the things people said to me. I was an adult before I figured out what an important lesson this was.

I learned that love was the key to open the heart of a person. I learned to really care about the people I knew. Sometimes, it was hard to open my heart, because to open your heart, you might get hurt. But, I learned that a heart full of love mends when it is broken and beats to help another person again.

I learned to stay in love with my husband. My mother took care of my father, every little need. Now, my father takes care of my mother, every little need. Over the years, I have learned more from my own marriage about caring and nurturing that most important relationship.

I learned that parents make mistakes. As a parent, I have made mistakes and I recognize them and try to correct them.

I learned to laugh. My mother would get “tickled” at the littlest thing. I remember many times that family prayer was delayed until my mother could quit giggling. And as you know, giggling is contagious, so she was not the only one who had to settle down. But, it was that giggling that helped me learn to laugh at myself and at the negative or ridiculous situations of life.

I learned that at the end of the day, family matters. We love each other, we enjoy being together and we take care of each other. We arrange our schedule to attend the activities of our siblings. At this holiday season, may we love each other, nurture each other and empower one another to reach for the stars.

What about you? How will you empower your family today?

In a Morrison’s Cafeteria in South Carolina, there was a sign that read: “Love is something so divine, Description would make it but less. ‘Tis what I feel, but can’t define. ‘Tis what I know, but can’t express.” The author is unknown to me.

I loved it so much, though, that I had it quoted on our wedding invitation. I think that it is hard to define and express the love we feel when others help us or help our family members.

This week, our dear Andre, helped to lay pergo flooring at my daughter’s home. This has been a great blessing to her.  The words “thank you” seem not to be enough to express the feelings in my heart. Our daughter has waited for awhile to have the new floor put into her house. I can’t wait to see the finished project!

Love is something so divine
Description would make it but less.
‘Tis what I feel, but can’t define.
‘Tis what I know, but can’t express.

Love is the most wonderful feeling in the world. How can we share it with someone we love today?