"WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP YOU?"

As an octomom of 8 kids, it's really a shame that I don't have 8 octopus arms as well...
because I always have at least 8 things on my mind that I'm hoping to accomplish all at once.

Over the years, we've taught our kids to come and ask, "Mommy, what can I do to help you?" It's amazing how encouraged I feel when they do! Never has there been a time when one of my children has asked me this question where I didn't have something on my mind that they could most definitely do to help me. If only they would ask more often!

So, today, in an attempt to teach my children servanthood and to meld our hearts and home in productivity and unison, we've come up with a plan. I'm praying that this plan yields results, rewards, responsibility, and reprieve.

I'm digging back into my XL marble jar and using our prayer board for tally marks. For every time someone asks, "Mommy, what can I do to help you?" they get a tally mark. I'm thinking those tally marks will translate to marbles at the end of each day and (hopefully) a jar full of marbles at the end of the month. By the end of the month, the goal is to have created a new habit of asking me how they can serve our family. Think it will work? We will see...

In the mean time, I'm loving the attitudes and spirit of helpfulness this prompt has profited in our family already today!
I even got to be a missionary in my own home as we went through an all out rendition of the gospel message before our undertaking. (Gotta love homeschool!) We're praying and encouraging and rewarding our way toward serving the Lord, not men.

I feel the LOVE already.

"Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."
Ephesians 6:7