Labor Day Intentions
We created an incredible word cloud together through our “One Word About Desert Mission” survey! The finished product is posted here. The words folks submitted are a great way of checking in with our mission as a community: to improve people’s lives by becoming the best of who God created us to be. And speaking of improving people’s lives…it’s Labor Day tomorrow, and we’d like you to consider engaging with the holiday in a new way.
A Labor Day engagement idea we spotted on the internet was to ask the child in your life what they want to be when they grow up. It’s always fun to ask kids this question, and in this case it also connects to the fact that when they grow up, Labor Day will be “for” them. But the origins of this holiday offer up a different possibility. Labor Day came out of massive protests for workers’ rights that happened in the late 19th century, including the Haymarket Riots and the Pullman railroad strike. You can read more about those events here. So instead of asking the kids in your life (or yourself – we’re always growing and changing, no matter our age) what they want to be, ask WHO they – or you – want to be.
Talk about who or what they would like to stand up for. What impact would they like to have on the world? Talk about how they envision becoming involved, and come up with a first step that they (or you) can take, right now, to move in that direction. Think volunteering, or making a donation, or writing a letter. Set an intention, and then, on Labor Day, take that step.
You can create a concrete reminder of your intention by putting key words connected to the impact you’d like to make into your own word cloud! Here’s a link to the online generator that created our Desert Mission word cloud. Input your list of words, have fun with the design, and then print it and put it up somewhere you’ll see it often to remind you to follow through on your intention. For an additional dose of accountability, we invite you to share the fruits of your labor with us, in person or on Facebook or Instagram.
