Mums the Word

Our church is an awesome church. They put all their effort and funds into doing good. It is not fancy. Our pastor says "church is inside you...this is just a basketball court" (it really is!! It is used for youth during the week) They have a free clinic they fund for health care, and a free store right in town.

We have gone to the Vineyard for about 2 years now. There is a long entrance drive to the parking lot and it is lined with rain barrels or buckets. They are always filled with weeds. It has been a little bug in my ear every time we enter how bad it looks. I finally gave in and understood it as God prompting me that ..."you could do something about it...this could be a good job for You!"

God bless the pastor...he tries. One Christmas I was surprised to see PLASTIC chrysanthemums actually PLANTED in the dirt. I knew I had to step in.



My children did not share my enthusiasm. I gathered up who was home. Tatum (almost 15), Matty(age 7), and Summer(17months). As we drove there I tried to explain what good they were doing and why. Matthew in his 7 year old world said " You mean you wasted all your money on these flowers??" I tried to be good mom and try again to explain that God gives us everything we have, even our money, and that is our job to share and do good. Once we arrived we realized we forgot the shovels in the front yard. A town away. The devil will not win this one! We promptly drove home, got them, and drove back

Summer was FILTHY! She threw dirt and rubbed in her hair (see post below..it's her new thing)

Matthew needed a couple of breaks.

I couldn't have done it without all of Tatum's help. As much as she didn't want
do this, she did.

Finally the reward!! It looked beautiful! And we got out of there just in time for the Saturday service to get to see the cleaned up job.

I hope my children can learn by example and not just words. I know they felt tired but productive. And tomorrow when we go to church, they will feel pride in knowing that they helped!