21 Projects you can do for anyone in your life!

This month's MOPS speaker Kathi Lipp helped us elevate our thinking about the relationships in our lives as a project: what can we proactively do to help make sure this relationship doesn't go stale? While she spoke primarily about her book The Husband Project, Kathi also spoke about and has done a lot of thinking about how to apply the "project" mentality to other relationships in our lives: how can we bless our relationships with our children, with our friends, with our bosses, with our parents or grandparents?

We want to thank Kathi for providing us with these 21 Projects that you can do for anyone in your life! Maybe one of these ideas is just the thing you needed to help show a special person in your life that you love them and are thinking of them!

• Do a Drive-By—Leave a note under their windshield wiper with a bit of encouragement or a Bible verse that would be meaningful. Bonus—how happy will they be when they realize it is not a parking ticket?!? (If your Project isn’t a licensed driver, put the note in their backpack or room.)

• Tell your Project what first made you want to hang out with them: was it their sense of humor, the way they cared for their little sister, the grace they showed others at work? Let them know how much that meant to you then, and now.

• Look in magazines or on the web for an article that your Project would be interested in. Clip it out or e-mail it with a note—”just thought you would find this interesting…”

• Pray for your Project – find out their schedule and challenges for the day and put a post-it note wherever you’ll best be reminded to pray throughout the day.

• Find a picture of the two of you that you really love. You can either give or e-mail a copy to your Project and let them know how happy the picture makes you feel.

• Brag on your Project. Make sure someone else in your Project’s life knows how special they are to you. Brag to their boss, their mom, their kids or their friends.

• Make sure that your Project’s birthday is on every calendar at your home or office. This year, you will remember to send a card or gift in time!

• Buy a bag of your Project’s favorite bite-sized candies. Leave the treats in surprising places (coat pockets, desk drawers).

• Make a list of 10 reason you love your Project. Leave it somewhere that they will find it.

• Do a chore that your Project hates. It could be anything from putting gas in their car to emptying their waste basket if you work together.

• Send an e-mail encouraging them in some way today.

• Let your Project know what you admire about them physically. Is it their hair color, their eyes, or even the way they dress.

• Buy a gift card for your Project. It can be as simple as $5 for coffee. Write a little note along with it to let them know why they deserve a break today.

• Post-it. Leave a little note somewhere that they will find it. Keep it brief (five words or less) to give them a short-and-sweet boost.

• What is one of your Project’s favorite foods. Today is the day to make that happen. Whether you have to make it, bake it, or take it (out) make sure they get some today.

• Pray for your Project’s other relationships. Is there one that is strained or distant? Pray silently and often throughout the day for that person.

• Be a resource. Find or purchase a resource for your Project. If they are into knitting, maybe it is a new magazine or a small gift card to a local shop.

• The gift of time. Would your Project like to take a walk with you, but you are always too tired or too busy? Today is the day to strap on those walking shoes—or go for a Starbucks run, or go see that chick flick she has been dying to see.

• How creative can you be for five bucks? It’s time to find out because that is all you have to bless your Project today. Maybe it is buying a cute plate at the dollar store and topping it with homemade brownies. Or five dollars of grocery store flowers that you turn into a charming small bouquet (arranged in a shabby chic tea cup).

• Time to take something off your Project’s to do list. Take their dry cleaning in or pack their lunch for the next day.

• OK—an e-card may not be the most thoughtful thing to send someone on a special day (just ask any wife who has received one on a 10th anniversary…) but they are perfectly acceptable for a not-so-important-day. You can find some fun cards at Hallmark.com

• Pray once again—this time for your relationship. Spend one minute thanking God for all He is teaching you though your Project.

Have any other ideas? Please share them with us on our facebook page or in the Comments section below!