Blessings-waiting-to-be

When I first downloaded my recent e-book for review, I didn’t expect to glean anything new from it.  At first glance (now, THERE’S a thief to watch out for),  Travel Kits:  A Simple Way to Bless Others by Donna Rees, published by The Old Schoolhouse (R) Magazine, seemed like a book I had already lived and I had hoped to review something new to me and beneficial to my family.

Travel Kits… are defined as “a collection of items that will entertain and/or delight the passengers (especially the younger passengers), thus making the trip more pleasant for everyone.”  I have been doing this for over 20 years.  I just didn’t have a name for what I was doing.

For years we’ve lived in N. Georgia and the rest of our families lived in central Florida.  Nearly every year, at least once, we would make the ten hour trip to visit them, catch a few waves and walk over the dunes.  We have wonderful memories of traveling together, because it was FUN!  I packed numerous activities/toys/books to keep everyone occupied;  we played car games, sang songs and made-up stories in round.  Most of the time we didn’t have a working radio and this was well before DVD players in the vehicle.   We’ve gone from the Walkman (cassette player), to portable CD player, to an MP3 player for our most recent trip.  I would prepare our food before we left home and we would eat in the station wagon… that became a mini-van… that grew as we did, to a 15 passenger van, maybe stopping once to have a picnic, but usually only for gas and bathroom breaks.  We could barely afford the trip! let alone eating out or extending the length of the drive for any reason that might require a hotel room for the night.  Plato said, “Necessity, is the mother of invention.”  Invention is kin to creativity.  I wanted to create fond memories and needed to maintain peace and harmony for 10 hours, each way.

Every idea I had and so many more! are written in Travel Kits:  A Simple Way to Bless Others. Donna writes from her experience and some of us you’d think she knows personally, because Chapter One begins, “For those of you who like to ‘cut to the chase,’  here’s an overview…”  Just enough instant-idea access to put together a travel kit for this weekend.Realistically, because she simply and clearly outlines the:  who to make a travel kit for, what to put into your kit, when to share the gifts, where, how, and possibly the most important ~ why make a travel kit.  Purchase, for $12.45, download, quick-read and go!

OR…

Go deeper than first glance… Pour a glass of sweet southern iced-tea and leisurely consume the smart, thoughtful, and easy-to-achieve ideas in this e-book.  Travel Kits… is so much more than it’s cover and overview and it deserves more than a cursory look.  There are more than 90 pages,  many with pictures, illustrations and how-to’s.  Links, including those to official tourism sites for the states and territories.  Games to play in the car, new and old and new spins on the old.  Recipes that pack-n-carry well, a trip checklist and tips from fellow travelers.

Step in a little more and you’re in past the heart…  In telling us why to make a travel kit, Donna says, “To bless others.  Jesus exhorted us to do to others as we would have them do to us.”  [Luke 6:31]  Yes, I made travel kits for my children when we took long trips,  but, as I read this book and applied it, I  was reminded that this is a wonderful way to love and serve others, OUTSIDE of my home.  Travel Kits… is a great gift idea.  One we can put together as a family.

Travel Kits:  A Simple Way to Bless Others. It’s in the name.  They’re not just for using on vacation, but may be organized for a long, unfamiliar ride to a doctor’s office, or a hospital stay.  A basket, a bin, a bag, it matters not, but full of things that say, “I’m thinking of you.”  “I care about you and I hope this makes you smile.”  “Congratulations!”, it becomes a blessing.

Think:

a new baby kit,

a first house kit,

a basketball camp kit,

a missions trip kit;

2 Thessalonians 3:13, “…never tire of doing good…”

Recently, after house-sitting for a week, my girls washed the linens and swept and mopped the floors, and got everything in order for when Mrs. B. came back home.  Really, no more than you might expect. Then, flowers were bought and put in a vase,  a pretty coffee cup was purchased and a card propped against it.  Fresh milk and an individual salad was put in the refrigerator, a couple of single frozen meals in the freezer, close to the ice cream surprise so it wouldn’t be missed and deli bread left on the counter.  Everything was too spread out to be tied up with a pretty bow, but…

a welcome-home-weary-traveler kit was born.

I think Travel Kits:  A Simple Way to Bless Others would be most useful read by an adult or an older child, but the travel kits themselves apply to all ages of travelers and most modes of  getting there and back.  It was, indeed, a benefit to read this e-book and I recommend it to you, my readers.  It was a “sleeper”, full of unexpected stirrings and promptings and blessings-waiting-to-be…

This product was given to me, free of charge, in exchange, for my honest review, as a member of the TOS Homeschool crew.  I receive no other compensation for my reviews on this blog.  The opinions expressed are my own.

You can read other reviews of this product written by my mates, at:

The Old Schoolhouse Store, hundreds of products and free shipping, always.

Blessings,