redefine christmas

Check out this website: http://www.redefine-christmas.org/index.php#home

I heard about it on NPR the other day. The idea is that during the holidays we are so intent on giving gifts to everyone on our list that we sometimes forget to give meaningful gifts. Our family has struggled with this for some time now. We live in a time where we can go out and buy whatever it is that we need/want at that particular moment. When the holidays come around, it gets difficult to come up with ideas of what to give and what to put on my wish list. I am blessed to have that problem, I know.

But have you thought about donating the money you would spend on gifts for your family to a charity of your choice? What would that be like in your family? I suppose if you have a family whose love language is gift giving/receiving, it could be a problem. My family (Louwsma's) has been doing this for a few years. While we still give each other a few gifts we also give chickens and cows via Samaritan's Purse and we donate to AfricaWorks, a non-profit Jimbo is involved with. We all pitch in money for shoeboxes filled with little trinkets for Operation Christmas Child. This year we will be making midwife kits for Global Health Ministries (ghm.org)--simple supplies to send to impoverished areas of the world that don't even have a clean environment for their babies to be born into.

I know money is tight all over the place right now but think about this:
-for $7 you can give hot meals to a child for one week
-for $4 you can provide milk to a child for one week
-for $6 you can provide a thick blanket to a child
-for $15 you can provide a month's tuition and school supplies so a child can get an education

The list goes on and on. And this is only one organization! I encourage you to check it out this holiday season. And when it isn't the holiday season as well. Put one less gift under the tree and donate that money to someone in desperate need. Just something to think about.