Summer Secret Service

I'm always looking for ways to serve other people. Acts of service is my love language, so believe me when I say, I LOVE to help people. This summer I wanted to do our normal summer fun, but I also wanted to go a little further and do some acts of kindness for each other.

This summer we have made a pact to do Summer Secret Service. We call ourselves the S.S.S. On the first day of summer vacation we drew names in our family. We also included my mom who spends a lot of time with us.

It's a SECRET who has who. So far, the kids have done pretty good at keeping it a secret. It's not so important to keep who has who a secret, as it is to keep the act itself a secret. It's fun to walk into your room and see that someone made your bed for you. Or it's REALLY neat to think you have to do the dinner dishes and find out someone secretly did it while you were busy elsewhere.

To make it extra special, my son designed a logo for us. I have such talented kids! I love what he came up with. It perfectly captures the love behind the acts of kindness. We printed our logo on labels that we can use for the things we make, and I ordered some business cards from Vistaprint. For example, if you clean the room for someone, you can slip a business card onto the bed or desk to show that the S.S.S. has been there.

We also plan on doing some acts of kindness for people outside of our family. This will be a great chance to use our business card. We can let them know they have been visited by the S.S.S.

I received this very sweet note from my S.S.S. I have spent several days helping a friend through a very trying time in her life. In fact, as I was writing this blog post a couple days ago, I received an important phone call from her. I put everything in my life on hold. I tried to be practical in the love I showed her. I went with her to the hospital. I helped clean her house, and packed some boxes for an upcoming move. I was emotionally exhausted and physically spent. It was a great source of encouragement to find this note waiting for me in my own home. Daisies are a source of comfort for me. To me they are a happy flower. This simple note made me tear up. It was a reminder that God is proud of me. That's enough to keep me going.  

*UPDATE* We had our big reveal, and I found out this letter to me was lurking in my house for over two weeks! I love how God has such impeccable timing. I found it the exact day that I needed to find it!

Everyone needs to feel a little extra love and care. This is a chance we have this summer to give a little, and even get a little. It adds the perfect special touch to our summer fun. I look forward to many more special acts of kindness this summer! The gears in my head have been turning in ways that I can give to my own S.S.S. It's exciting to be a part of something like this.

*UPDATE* Our Summer Secret Service was such a big success, we decided we wanted to continue the special acts of kindness. We have started a new round of good deeds.... the SCHOOL SECRET SERVICE. New names have been drawn, and new acts of kindness are being performed. We are keeping it a secret for the entire school year, and plan to do at least one good deed for each other per month... hopefully more.

Feel free to use our logo and ideas anyway you see fit! 

Let's all join together and do kind things for each other!