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Cindy Colley

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Mama’s Kiss #74: Hospital Volunteers

As you know, if you’ve been reading, for quite some time, I’ve occasionally been running little installments called “Mama’s K.I.S.S.” I know that lots of readers could give many more and far more creative ideas than I can offer, but these installments are just a few tried and true and mostly old-fashioned ideas for putting service hearts in our kids.  This is number 71 of a list of one hundred ways we train our kids to serve. K.I.S.S. is an acronym for “Kids In Service Suggestions”.

There are few places that bring smiles to young servants in a more eternally fulfilling way than the hallways of hospitals. Truly!

There are a few hospitals here and there that still allow teens to deliver the mail to the residents in volunteer programs. Mostly, though, in our post-modern and post covid world, though, the “candy-stripers” have been replaced by corporate systems that are touted as efficient and safe.

But smart parents are always on the look out for ways to incorporate the sick and hurting into the monthly service regimes of their teen (and even younger) children. Enlist the help of your youth group or church service group to do some or all of the following:

1. Fill little dollar store plastic bins with snack crackers and cookies and water bottles and deliver them to the waiting areas in hospitals with notes of encouragement from your local congregation. Be sure you include directions to your building and contact information with the open offer of meeting with families for prayer.

2. Have your children adopt a floor or wing of the hospital for weekly visiting, room by room. Choose as  safely as possible, but this limited risk is so worth it for your kids.   There are areas of non-infection in most larger hospitals. Consider the NICU or the cancer patients.

3. Have your children make little “laundry lines”  with clothes-pins to attach to the walls of patients who will be staying for a few days, so that they can display their cards. Be sure to have the children go in and attach the first card on the little yarn “clothes-lines”  they have made. Of course, the way your children find out who is staying for a few days is by visiting their floor or wing and conversing. (Today’s privacy rules will not allow the hospital to divulge that information, but many patients are so happy to have visitors and talk about their diagnoses.)

4. Have your children take a couple of friends with them (or your family) and choose a hymn to sing in three of their rooms, monthly, to those who would like to listen or sing along. You can even take the words to the hymn and let the patients read along, but be sure to identify the church and give contact information on the lyrics sheet that you leave.

5. During the Christmas holidays, take a small gift ( a lotion, a candy cane, a little pop-up greeting card, or a little strand of lights for the bedside table–just any little happy gift) to the patients in which your children are “investing”.

The receivers will evolve and the faces will look different monthly, but the givers will respond consistently and their faces will turn ever more  heavenward!

Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed. Psalm 34:5

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Limited T-shirts and Hoodies Left. Instructions Here.

Today, I dropped my husband at the airport at 7:15 a.m. (He recovered from all injuries!) I then traveled to Nashville to pick up all those back-ordered copies of the new Digging Deep book.  (They were heavy!)I went to the wrong loading dock first and the prankster at the loading dock told me that my printing company had suddenly gone out of business. He was NOT funny! Eliza Jane and I finally got those boxes and boxes of books loaded and started home. We grabbed a quick bite on the way home (The bite was a large one.) and made it home in time  to drop (She recovered too!) Eliza back at home, and then I turned around and went back into town for a doctor’s appointment. I then ran home (I was out of breath.) and baked cookies for our Digging Deep time tonight (We dug way deeply without heavy equipment.) 

I wrote the above paragraph, without the parentheses, last night and then put the laptop down because I kept dropping it on my face as I was lying there trying to communicate to you. I’m sleep deprived, lately!  When proofreading that paragraph this morning, before an 8 a.m. dentist appointment, I realized just how very frequently we use figures of speech or idioms in our speaking and writing. Just in this little exercise, I became acutely aware of how often it is in Bible study that we need to research what an idiom used in Scripture may actually have meant in the day, and to the audience, in which it was communicated; things like “a camel through the eye of a needle”( Mark 10:23)), or “Abraham ’s bosom” (Luke 16:22), or “eat their own bread” (2 Thessalonians 3:12), or “drink water from your own cistern” (Proverbs 5:15). I’m just throwing this in (I have a good throwing arm.) randomly, because it hit (ouch, again) me so BIG this morning, but let’s watch for idioms as we study these conversations. 

The podcast is tonight here at 7:00 CST: https://thecolleyhouse.org/live-digging-deep-video-podcast. Hannah Colley will join me. (It’s been too long. I’m excited about this co-host!) Today is a great day to invite someone to view the podcast and study along. It’s easy catch-up through November, so it’s not too late. I did get all those books unloaded into the basement, so if you ordered in September, your book will arrive shortly. We are working hard and we are so sorry for the delays that some of you have encountered. More books can be ordered currently without a long wait for shipping. 

I’m listing below the very limited sizes of t-shirts and hoodies we have left. The t-shirts are 20 dollars and the hoodies are 34 dollars (plus postage). If you want a shirt or hoodie, the ONLY way to get one is to email me at byhcontest@gmail.com. Please don’t text me or call me or FB message me. Email this address. I will let you know if I still have one for you as I fill these orders, first-come/first serve. I’ve had lots of ladies notify me in so many different venues that I can never know who was first. So THE way to get one (or more) is by emailing byhcontest@gmail.com. 

Please go ahead and list your address and the size you need from these limited sizes. If I have it, I will mail it to you and include the amount owed in your package. We just have a few (sometimes even just one) of each size, so we will just fill as many as we can in the order received in that email account only. I’ll post a list soon of those who should be watching for a shirt or hoodie! Thanks so much for being so patient with us. 

Here’s what we have: 

T-shirts sizes, as of now: 

XL

4XL

Hoodie sizes, as of now: 

M

XL

3XL 

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Digging Deep Books: We got the call!

DD sighting at Keeper’s Retreat last weekend.

Today I got the word, at last. Digging Deep books will be ready for pick-up from the printer this Friday!  That’s the good news. The bad news is that I have to be on a plane early in the  morning tomorrow (Wednesday) to the Oklahoma City area and I cannot return home till Saturday, when Glenn and I finish speaking at Legacy Family Camp. We’ve notified the printer that I will be there early next Monday to pick up the rest of our Digging Deep books. Once in my SUV, I will get them in the mail  quickly to all of those who are waiting on orders. I can’t really tell you how happy I will be to fill these orders. It’s been a stressful wait and I am thankful it’s almost over. If you need books, order now and the wait will be relatively minimal. Our apologies for this year’s delays that were excessive. We’re going to try to reveal the topic earlier next summer and also avoid the back-order. We keep learning each year . This year was a huge digging year and we’re just praying the spiritual harvest will parallel the huge dig. We are undeserving of such a blessing as the encouragement we get from you, but thanks from a deep place!

Remember the podcast is next Tuesday (10/22). I hope you can join us! All dig-a-bits for October are coming, too. It’s a great time to invite a friend. Books are just about to be a lot  more attainable and it’s an easy catch-up. Remember also, there’s a free download at www.thecolleyhouse.com, if you prefer that.

Dig a little deeper today!

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Mrs. B Bright Ideas… Go check it out!

I’ve been meaning to tell you about this for at least a year. Can’t wait another day. If you are a homeschool teacher, a traditional school teacher, or just a mom persevering to find good safe curriculum-boosters and, as the website touts, bright ideas for the students you love, here’s the place. 

Anna Benavides is one of the most talented people I know and her resources are a click away. They are here: https://mrsbsbrightideas.com/. She’s a faithful New Testament Christian married to a computer geek (in a good way) and daughter and daughter-in-law to a couple of my very good sister/friends, Janet Hudson and Jenn Benavides. Anna teaches second grade and takes care of Michael, her pretty amazing husband. She also is teaching women in various spiritual venues. You may have heard her at PTP or on a recent Sisters podcast. I recently heard her in a women’s Bible class and her talent for teaching just naturally emerges there. 

I could go on and give you details about some of the products, but if you go exploring on the site, you will find not only what you need to tailor your own best package for the student who is needing accelerated math projects or the one who is challenged at some point by phonics or fractions. But bonuses are that you will also find her blog and it will be a win for your homeschool or classroom; and you will  connect to her instagram for extra ideas. She finds creative ways to organize your classroom space, your instructions for your substitute teachers, and even your personal spaces. AND.SO.MUCH. MORE! 

My favorite selling point may be the original whimsical art style that’s a part of every product. And the products are organized by the months of the school year. So, for instance, the math has an October section, so you can make your learning space fresh and seasonal. You just have to see. So go!  If you’re in Alabama, you may have a couple of extra hours this week in your fall break. You will not regret the time you spend here. https://mrsbsbrightideas.com/

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

A Place at the Tree

The brightest day in a garden

The accuser darkened and marred.

The tree of life was forbidden

Secured by the cherubim’s guard.

 

Another dark day in a garden

When God, for me, fell on HIs face.

And sweat fell as blood for my pardon

Could it be, at the tree, yet a place?

 

The dawn of redemption has broken.

A tomb’s stone has rolled from its head …

And sweet angel voices have spoken.

The living lie not with the dead!

 

The tree of life stands in a garden

Near a throne in the midst of the street

No cherubim stands in the east now

But covers my God’s mercy seat.

 

A garden, a tree….but forbidden for me.

Till the trembling earth gave up its prey.

The accuser is done and the Victor has won

And the cherubim taken away.

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Pretty Sure I Gave Maggie This…for Me.

It’s been a crazy month. I’ve spoken at events or on podcasts about a dozen times through the month. And we’ve gotten out about 2500 hard copies of the new Digging Deep book this month. We’ve ordered 400 more and there’s no telling how many free copies have been downloaded. (If you are waiting on a DD book, I’ll let you know the moment they are ready and we will ship out post haste!) Keep inviting. The catch-up is still very do-able! 

And this month I’ve celebrated big with three grandkids who have turned 6, 8 and 10 years old. 

I wanted to tell you about the little retreat that Maggie (the six-year-old) and I had together at the beginning of the month to celebrate (a little late) her August birthday. She’s finally gotten old enough to go short distances with me overnight and so we went about 35 minutes from her house to Chickasaw State Park. I rented a cabin for two nights and we had the time of our lives. It was her birthday, but I am absolutely positive the gift was more for me than for her. There was so much needed laughter. There was tea time at Besso’s coffee shop. There was swimming, just the two of us alone) in a big lake in the warm sunshine. There was deep discussion about God. There was exploration and playground time and owls and brownie baking and marsh-mallow roasting and hiking and falling asleep to the rhythm of her sweet breathing as her head lay on my shoulder. 

And there were tips to remember, for this Mammy, in case I get to do this wonderful thing again: 

  1. Grandchildren can’t be spoiled by good grandparents. If your granddaughter wants you to take her to the FHU college cafeteria (on Labor Day, no less, when the food is even sub-standard to what it is when all the students are there)  and you think you had enough Gano food in the time you were in school there to last three lifetimes, you go there, and you tell her all about her great-great grandfather’s’ time in school there, her grandparents’ days as students, your own time in school there and her parents’’ time in school there and how her mother wore a big lion’s costume and revved up the game-day crowd as the university mascot.  Then, if she wants to linger at the snake’s terrarium in the office at the state park and examine the snake’s skin on top, you do that, too, even though you’d rather lie down on a bed of ten-penny nails or ride through the desert on a limping camel.
  2. Be careful what you say and do at all times, for lots of reasons. But one of the reasons is that the lady in line behind you, in a random western Tennessee Dollar General, while you are asking if the cashier knows where you can find some fishing worms…that lady might be the mom of your neighbor in Gurley, Alabama. Before you leave the store, you may feel like you need to hug this random woman, because you are almost kin (and you ARE kin in the Lord.) And the big guy with the long dreadlocks, who is the cashier very politely tells you that he doesn’t know where they sell any worms, “…but, Ma’am, if you can just turn over a big rock that looks like it’s been layin’ there for a long time…” He thought I did not know how to dig worms. (In fairness, I did ask if he knew where I could FIND some.) Getting in the car, Maggie said “So that lady is your friend?” She is, now.
  3. Foster a love between siblings in your grandchildren. Maggie wants one night of the retreat all to herself, but, the second night she can’t wait to show her brother all the stuff she’s explored….”Buddy, we’ll show you everything in here. We know where it all is. You will love it. I’ll show you our cabin and you can sleep in your own room.  She was wrong about that last part. 
  4. Kids are absorbing and learning and making judgements all the time. Maggie ascertains that a manmade beach at the lake “is almost as good as the real beach, but not quite.” Ellis wants to know, with every move of the Praying Mantis,  “Is he praying yet?” The kids wanted me to ask Siri what a Praying Mantis eats and we found out that he can eat worms and bugs, except for ants, and he also eats smaller Praying Mantises. (Click here for the Mantis chase! IMG_3904) So, with this new discovery and capture, we really did go to a graveyard and dig worms for our new pet. But, alas. when we got home, Mama thought he’d be happier in the wild. We had to set him free, after only one big worm meal.  Also, in the learning and exploring category… before you spend an hour looking for a lost item (like your Apple watch) ask Ellis, who’s three. He knows.  In fact, he has it on his person. (…and, also, I needed about 2837287 pages of blank paper, so Ellis could draw waterspouts, cabooses, and Pac-man characters, over and over.) 
  5. It’s really hard to find Gluten-free ingredients in Henderson, TN. (But, at last, we did.)
  6. Kids love Chik-Fila. They want to go there for supper, so you drive all the way to the nearest one, which is two minutes from their house in the next town over. You think about going by to check in with the parents, since there’s no cell service in your cabin and you left your phone there.  But no. The kids wanted to come all this way to Chik-Fila, but they really do NOT want to go home.
  7. Roasting marshmallows in a fireplace in August makes the cabin a little toasty, but it’s worth it.

I highly recommend the one-on-one retreat with any grandchild turning six. It was one of the favorite gifts I’ve ever given myself for my grandchild’s birthday!  

Okay, I’m not really sure that good grandparents  can’t spoil their grandchildren. That’s just a theory. But I’m going with it. If it’s wrong, they have other responsible adults who can worry about it.