Drop Everything and Encourage Day (D.E.E.D.)

Welcome to Drop Everything and Encourage Day (D.E.E.D.) for May! This time of year many activities begin to wrap up for summer break. This week (May 6-10) also happens to be Teacher Appreciation Week! What a perfect time to thank and encourage the teachers, school employees, Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, pastors, coaches, and community service members who serve our families all year long.

I’ve compiled some prompts to help you get started, as well as some printables and ideas to make it easy for you to encourage those who serve your communities!

Here is a fun downloadable sheet with these encouragement prompts that you can post on your mirror or fridge.

One fun way to thank those who tirelessly “sow” into our communities is to give them seeds or plants. Here’s a fun garden-themed gift package that I put together recently. (The label on this envelope says “If friends were flowers, I’d pick you. You can get that label here.)

I purchased a large bag of seeds that I divided into envelopes and then glued a label on the front. I included a garden stone (you often can find them at the dollar store), and an easy-to-make hand scrub.

Here’s a close up of the garden hand scrub. It’s too bad you can’t attach smell to blog posts because it smells good enough to eat. But don’t eat it! The hand scrub is nothing more than sugar and enough scented dish soap (I used a grapefruit scent) to make the mixture grainy, but not overly runny. Save empty jelly jars to make these easy gifts. Honestly, they take just a few minutes to make. And the scrub makes your hands so, so soft.

I’ve created a page of these little cards that you can download to print and use. There are 8 on a 8.5″ by 11″ sheet of paper. Print them on card stock, punch a hole in them and attach to a potted plant with a string, or print them off, cut apart, and glue to an envelope of seeds. These make a simple, easy, and inexpensive thank you gift.

So are you ready to encourage and thank those in your community who sow into the lives of so many? I’d love to hear from you of how your adventures in D.E.E.D. are going!