For years now, I have really wanted to start a new Christmas tradition of not giving lavish gifts to ourselves, but giving to those who really NEED. The many things I enjoy about Christmas have more to do with the feel of Christmas morning, spending time with family, eating together, listening to music and smelling the tree. I love having things and getting things at Christmas, but never feel like it's something I need. And I'm not the kind of person that needs to be shown love by gift-giving. Now that we're starting to have little ones, I want to make sure we miss out on the Christmas crazy of going into debt buying the best and newest and latest that every other kid has. We do NOT want to go there.
So...this year, Rob and I are looking at our budget to see how we can cut back on ourselves to really give important gifts. I just got a great catalog in the mail that I wanted to share. It's the World Vision Gift Catalog, which you can click through to access. You can buy things like a goat, a share of a cow, chickens, fruit trees, mosquito nets, a well or share of a well, medicine, clothes and shoes, Bibles translated into other languages, and school supplies. You can also donate money that will go to specific things like helping sexually exploited girls or women who are starting small businesses to support their families.
World Vision is a very reputable organization, so you don't have to worry that your money is really going somewhere else. And with so many affordable options (two chickens are $25), even if you don't want to go all out, you can still give a little of what you have to make a large impact on what someone needs!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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2 comments:
Operation Christmas Child is also a great idea! Instead of buying things for all the kids in the family (most of whom have too much already), you could send a shoebox to a needy child in another child's honor. I think it could be an awesome thing...to show an American kid how much of the rest of the world lives, and to show him/her how to spread love. That's what Christmas is really about, anyway! (Lots of information available at the Samaritan's Purse website.)
Kirsten, what a wonderful idea! I've also felt this way, and wanted to get my family together on Christmas Day to work a food bank or homeless shelter together.
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