The Visiting Teaching Message for June is about strengthening families through temporal self-reliance. It was interesting for me to revisit what it means to become self-reliant:
We become self-reliant as we learn to love work, as we seek inspiration to find the best ways to provide for ourselves, and as we work with family members to meet basic needs.
Being a mother with small children, I was especially thoughtful of what I could do to teach my children to love work, and how we, as a family could work together to become more self-reliant. Tending a garden as a family is one way to teach the value of self-reliance. We can learn to love work as we plant a seed and care for it, then are rewarded with the miracle of a plant to eat, admire or share with others. Those garden vegetables can also be used in food storage – which is another great aspect of self-reliance.
I also like how the message mentions how our efforts at self-reliance bless us to help us solve future problems, and also allow us to help those around us. Praying for courage to meet with faith our challenges helps us to build our spiritual self-reliance, as well.
With this in mind, I created a seed packet with quotes from this month’s message printed on it. I used colored copy paper, which in this instance works a little better than cardstock. When cutting the pattern, I suggest you cut slightly inside the black lines, so they don’t show when it’s all put together. I would also carefully crease on fold lines, so the dashed lines don’t interfere with the overall presentation. After adhering the bottom and side flap to the back of the packet, fill with jelly bean “seeds”, and fold the top flap down. I didn’t make any closure for the top flap, so you will just need to transport carefully to not lose all your sweets!I suggest you save the printable file on your computer, then open in Adobe Acrobat to get the best printable file (rather than printing directly from your internet browser).
A kind reader has made a print and cut file of the seed packet for her Silhouette cutting machine. If you have a Silhouette and would like the file, Megan is happy to share with you. Email her at megan@buhlerfamily.org and she will send you the file.
Click here to download in English
Click here to download in Dutch. Thank you Birgitta!
Click here to download in German. Thank you Blanche!
Click here to download in French. Thank you Christine!
Click here to download in Portuguese. Thank you Ana Carolina!
Click here to download in Spanish. Thank you Delmy! You can also download this blog post in Spanish here.
Click here to see the self-reliance goal planner from the December 2009 message
Seriously…I ADORE each and every one of your VT handouts!!
Now that is a great handout!!!
Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [27 May 02:15am GMT]. Thanks, Maria
You are SOOO awesome to get this up so early! Thank you, thank you!!
You have changed my life when it comes to Visiting Teaching. I'm not sure I've told you that.
http://whitlarson.blogspot.com/2011/05/see-me-visit-teach.html
I love your stuff! Seriously so cute!
Loved this so much, I turned it into a print and cut file for the Silhouette. If you have a Silhouette cutting machine and would like the file, email me at megan@buhlerfamily.org and I'll send you the file.
so cute! I am so doing this for my sisters! Thanks for sharing your creativity!
EXCELLENT!!! You're a Genius!
I wish I had found you sooner… your ideas are wonderful… thank you for sharing them!
The graphic of the pumpkins prints out on my computer as a big black box…
Mine, too… Any ideas? I have come to rely on your brilliant ideas… Thanks. Linda
That is unfortunate about the black boxes! I wish I knew what was causing it. I am out of the country for the week, enjoying a fun week in Greece with my husband, so am unable to work out the kinks. I'll give it a look when I get back this weekend. Sorry, friends!
Mine too came out as a black box but my friend's printed out perfectly.
Thanks for sharing all your great ideas!
Thank you for your time, talent and abilities which help us to become better visiting teachers!
I tried it in a different browser and that worked for me to get the image to print right. It printed a black box in Chrome but in Internet Explorer it printed fine. HTH. 🙂
Becky, It was the same with me.
Kristin, Thanks for all of your great ideas!!!
Thank you so much for posting all your creative VT ideas. It makes visiting teacher just a bit easier. And, the women always look forward to what new thing I will bring. And that is thanks to you!!
Thanks for the great printable! Love it!
Thank you Becky, for sharing that! I re-did the links in my post, just in case that helps, but that is very good to know another solution to the black box problem – try a different browser.
Thanks so much! Using Internet Explorer worked
Thanks 🙂 What a wonderful idea !! I printed the file in French… wow !!! Thank you for the translation 🙂 MERCI BEAUCOUP 😉 Esther
Have been using this with my sisters this month – huge hit!. Thank you for sharing this awesome handout!!
Olá querida irmã!Sou do Brasil e tenho um blog direcionado Às profesoras visitantes também,e amei seu blog que tem idéias maravilhosas.Muito obrigada por compartilhar…Bom final de semana!
http://professorasvisitantesonline.blogspot.com
This is adorable. Thank you!!
Thank you for so generously blessing VTs everywhere with your creative ideas.
Thanks for the darling idea, I used it this month. Thanks again!
Wow-what a cute idea!!! You are so creative. I love to make things but just can't think up ideas. Thank you for sharing so people like me can have fun making and sharing them. -Mary L.
Love it!!! Thank you so much for sharing your talents!!