HOMEMADE WINS EVERY TIME

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.

• 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.