Secret Service Agents

Each month we've been focusing on one Ten Minute Topic to teach our kids. This month is Service. My family is maybe a bit unique in the fact that they are RoCksTarS when it comes to helping out local organizations for food drives, coat drives, filling hygiene item bags, making toys for kids, sending things to people in need, taking people meals, leaving treats to those we feel need a pick-me-up, writing missionaries, etc. This is just part of my life, and so it's part of theirs. So we were racking our brains to try a new service project.

I came up with this great idea--whilst in the throws of a wildly low blood sugar moment--Secret Service Agents. The whole point to do service, but it must be done anonymously, and kept quite by others who may witness it.

Since we are a bit obsessed with NCIS and other TV dramas, I thought I'd capitalize on that, and made each person a badge and secret notebook where they could write down their service, just to keep track. The "targets" of the service were the people most important to us-each other!

Why serve each other? I'm glad you asked. Often family members are just "used" to each other, and don't really appreciate or realize what critical relationships family member have. Really if you can naturally love and serve your family members, bonds are strengthened, families are closer and work better together, and some days fighting may subside for an hour or two. Why track it? Because I want my family to see how much good they can do, and I want it to be fun. I want them to learn that service can be simple--like picking up some one's socks, and I want them to learn that if you can serve your family, everyone in the family will benefit.

As parents, most of us serve our families every day. We make breakfast, take kids to school, help with homework, tie shoes, dry tears, make dinner, pack lunches, wash clothes, stick on band-aids, break up fights, give advice, clean up messes, and try to direct our children into becoming those amazing people they are destined to become. It's not often secret what we give, do and sacrifice for our families. The trick to secret service is thinking about the people in your family and what they need outside of the ordinary. My mom was a Rock Star at leaving notes in lunchboxes or on pillows when she knew I was struggling with something. I still have a lot of those notes, and they mean the world to me. Growing up is tough, and we need our families to make it through.

The adrenaline rush of trying to do something without getting caught is fun. The rush of trying to serve in secret is better. The looks I've seen this week on some of the kids' faces has been priceless. S. thought her lunchbox was missing, and it turns out, some Secret Service Agent made her lunch and put it in the fridge. Another time L. went to empty the garbage cans for trash day, and a Secret Service Agent has already done it for her. Smiles were everywhere in those moments.

Love the one's you're with...cuz they're all you've got, and they're all that matters!