I gave my mom a knit beanie I bought for myself several months back as inspiration.
I told her, this would be fun for her to make. Your grandkids would enjoy them. You should make some.
So my mom did.
She bought a bucket of yarn in various colors. Then she set the various colors in front of my kids and I, and said, “Pick some”. We each picked colors and wallakazu – wallakazam, several weeks later my mom had knit us all beanies.
I love homemade stuff. But I think that in our internet visa card buying culture, homemade has become the product of but a rare few people. But homemade is where it’s at. There’s no way I’m bloggin’ that we all got beanies if my mom bought them all at walmart.
I think in ministry, you can get a lot more mileage out of homemade stuff too. Way more than the stuff that costs real store bought money. Here’s some homemade ideas that win every time.
I think in ministry, you can get a lot more mileage out of homemade stuff too. Way more than the stuff that costs real store bought money. Here’s some homemade ideas that win every time.
- THANK YOUS: a handmade card and hand written note will trump an e-mail or a facebook wall birthday wish every time.
- MEALS: handmade meals with friends, coworkers, or students win the day over a menu item at a restaurant chain. Skip the professional caterer for your next volunteer training meal and make a meal together. It will become team building and will be way memorable if you do.
- MUSIC: if you can sing a song written by someone you know vs. one hillsong wrote, hands down it wins the day every time.
- SPEAKERS: use your team to speak to your team. Try having 3 volunteer interns speak at a retreat instead of hiring in the big gun speaker. You might be surprised at home much more bang for your buck you can get out of a home grown team.
- OUTREACH: we’ve found that open mic night and talent shows are the thing of today. Thank reality television or whatever, but bottom line is this: students will come to see their peers homemade reality tv show long before they’ll come see my professional skateboarder I hired, paid a huge price for, and bought a hotel room to put up for the night.
- ILLUSTRATIONS: stories about stuff that are fresh and from your life win the day over anybody elses story or stories from news pieces. Be authentic. Tell your own homemade story.
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