Pay It Forward - A Weekend Full of Service

This weekend our hearts were filled with service. It started during the week with individual Mommy dates with each of my boys. In return our house was full of more thoughtfulness and acts of service. Fortunately I have been super lucky to not get sick during my pregnancy till now. With the change in the weather, overdose in Halloween candy, and lack of sleep I sacrificed on behalf of Tyler's Birthday party I came down with the worst head cold ever. It all finally caught up with me. Its just the pits being pregnant and sick. You cant take a darn thing to help ease the pain. I was tempted on many occasion to pop a couple of Advils and not tell anyone, but I knew my baby was counting on me to make good healthy judgments so I leaned on the weak old medicine "Tylenol". Better then nothing right? Friday was the worst day of this cold. I had enough and my body was just worn out. I made a call into my doctor and spent the better half of the morning on the couch feeling miserable. I didnt care if the kids trashed or turned my house upside down, this MaMa was calling it quits. Before I knew it my sweet 6 year old Tyler came up to me and gave me a pillow and blanket to lay on and asked me the sweetest question.

"Mommy........I would like to stop what I'm doing and find a way to help you out, whether it be sweeping, picking up my toys, or taking care fo the kids.....I want to help you. I could even do the dishes for you if you wanted to."

I gave him a big hug and thanked him for his willingness to service and help his tired old sick Mother Out. I told him to do what his hearts desires the most. After a little snooze on the couch I found him working his little heart out in the kitchen cleaning the dishes for me. What a gem. And to top it I noticed a unique slender little love note waiting on the table for me. Tyler said that was a Thank You note for taking him on a Mommy date this past week. Pay It Forward! I tell you this kid loves doing service for others.

I didnt see all the "Pay It Forwards" until the end of this weekend, but it only gets better. So Saturday Morning Perry had planned on chopping a tree down in MiMi and Grandpa's Yard. The kids wanted to go help Daddy so after breakfast I took them all down to the local ranchers store and bought them all their very own Worker gloves. They just thought those were the coolest things ever. I couldnt believe they made such heavy duty gloves for kiddos. I stayed and fixed lunch at MiMi's and Grandpa's while the 3 boys helped their daddy out in the yard. I was able to witnessed all 3 boys eager and willing to help load all the cut branches in the trailer with smiles on their faces and not any whining or complaining. It melted my heart to see the love and drive they had in helping out their Grandparents.








After a long afternoon of yard work, Perry came home and noticed how sick I was and decided to clean the whole kitchen and fix dinner for the family. I could of easily left the kids in his hands and taken a long much needed nap, but instead I decided to help out Perry by taking the kids to the park to unleash some energy they were stirring up in the house. I decided for the first time ever that I would take them to a little enclosed park and stay in the car while they played their little hearts out. Yeah I felt that crummy. They played perfect together. It was so cute to see them care and nurture for one another without Mommy around. I sat and watched them like a hawk while sipping on some nice hot soup Perry fixed me. To my surprise as I opened up the mug I noticed this sweet little love note from him wishing me better and that he loved me.

As I sat and watched my boys playing together with respect and kindness I was flooded with emotion as I looked back on the past couple of days. It seemed all of us had a little more service and charity in our hearts this week. What a difference it made in our home as we all made extra effort to care and love one another through service. It was a weekend full of service and "Paying it forward". One thing I learned this weekend, is how contagious service can be. It set a wonderful tone in our home, one I hope to continue to carry on for weeks to come.