TGIF: Shopping SPREE! Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child 2011

One of our most treasured traditions is coming up this weekend: Our annual shopping trip for Operation Christmas Child!

We've done this since my oldest was toddling around. It is always rewarding, even if it takes a little bit of growing pain to get through it. Sometimes we have whining at the store...well, most times...because shopping for someone else with such abandon could be considered shock to children who are unfortunately immersed in a culture of, "that's mine", and "gimme, gimme!" But, whether it's in the middle of filling a shopping cart with trinkets, toothpaste, and toy cars, or sorting through the loot to pack each "shoe box" with great love for a child across the world, my kids never fail to discover the satisfaction and joy in giving Christmas away through Operation Christmas Child.

How blessed we are to live in this day where media can inspire us with pictures of those in need of our good fortune, that missionaries can bless children in every culture, and that we are able to touch a life across thousands of miles, one that we may only meet in Heaven one day!

National Collection Week is November 18th-25th! Click here to find out more, including a drop-off location near you! 

Operation Christmas Child

I challenge you to look past the hype of buying this year. Focus on giving...you will be blessed! Click here: Samaritan's Purse , and make a difference in the life of a child!

Quick, this is the last weekend before they ship boxes of gifts to thousands of children. If you look at the website, they will tell you where the nearest drop off is near you.

Christmas Plans: 12 Days of Giving

I have never been more convicted about the holidays until these past couple of years. Now that the boys are older, I realize how disgustingly materialistic our culture is, and how it has crept into the hearts of my sons and cultivated greed. They hear us say that "It's about Jesus's birth" but in the end, it's about the presents under the tree on Christmas morning. Now, I LOVE the excitement of Christmas morning!! It is so much fun to see the kids race to the tree and squeal with delight. Every good parent loves giving good things to their children, right?

But, what if we gave them a "small" token after a "large" time of giving? What if the prize at the end was just that, a prize for giving time and effort to blessing others? Not that they "earn" it, but they "receive" a gift just as everyone they had given gifts to?

Okay, so I am typing as I'm thinking, so it may sound gibberish...but this year, our family is doing away with the big Christmas (well, we can't stop grandparents, and extended family...they love to give to the boys and I would never take that away). We are going to implement:

The 12 Days of Giving

Starting on December 12th, we are going to sit as a family each night and make gifts for the designated person/people/charity. I have already sketched out each person and charity we want to bless, and the kids will get to shop for the materials, and even decide what to make. On Christmas Eve, our final gift will be one to Jesus, we will talk about the fruits of the Spirit, what we want to "give" Him this next year... (kinda like New Year's resolution, Jesus style). And on Christmas morning, the boys will receive, just as everyone before them had. After all, one of our family values is: "I am third"- God, Others, then me.

We've already started talking to them about it, and they seemed to get it...we've emphasized "It is a bigger blessing to give than to receive". We also shared with them that the reason gifts came about on Christmas is because we are celebrating the "birthday" of Jesus, our BEST present from God. They are excited to jumpstart this season with Operation Christmas Child this week! I am so looking forward to the holidays now! :)

Do you have any fun and meaningful ways to celebrate the holidays without giving into consumerism?

He Told Us We're Making A Difference

I recently posted about how we were going to teach our kids about selflessness this season. Well, this weekend was our Family Kick Off. And often, during times like these, when I am pouring myself out for others in obedience, I expect nothing in return...no pat on the back from God, no warm fuzzies, because I know that there are a million and one other things I could do to make a difference and once those are done, there would still be more. It's just an expectation for my walk, not a self-satisfying do-gooder motive.
Anyway, shopping with three boys and a dad in a crowded, CROWDED store, is N-O  F-U-N! I was a bit disappointed in the lack of "fun" in our shopping trip to bless others. At one point, I heard myself reprimanding my son, "We are not getting anything for you, so stop asking! This isn't about stuff!" Hmm, Mama's patience was left somewhere in Hawaii.
We shopped and shopped, then assembled our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes this morning...which, actually was pleasant because the boys knew they had bought the gifts for someone else, and there were no toy-lined store shelves coaxing them in our living room. My husband loaded the boys up in the car, and drove to one of the only churches participating in the big OCC drop off week.
They returned shortly though, because the church was locked, even though we were told they would be having a packing party at that time.
Now here is the amazing, God's with us, we're doin' somethin' right part of my story...later that night, I sat down at my laptop to email the coordinator at that church and make sure we were able to still drop the boxes off tomorrow...when the doorbell rings.
After a few seconds, my husband buzzes through the room towards the garage and says, "You won't believe this, but some girls from THAT church are at our door collecting for a food drive. They said they would take our boxes to the church for us!"
WHAT??? First of all, that church is about ten minutes away, it's not like it was in our neighborhood... and second of all, I had told myself, "Oh well, if we can't find a way to ship them, that's okay..." but God didn't let us give up that easily...well, he didn't make us work very hard either, he just brought "Santa" to our doorstep!

LOVE IT! 

Tis a magical season indeed!

To Feed or To Greed

It's easy to question God, or even turn away from him, when you see the suffering in countries like India, Africa, Guatemala. This past Sunday, our pastor pointed out that we produce enough food to feed every living person a 3000 calorie diet! He made a wise suggestion that it's not God's will, but man's own doing. With dictators, leaders, greedy men and greedy countries throughout history, starving children are a normal atrocity in each of our minds, a "think of those people who don't have has much as we do" lesson for our children, something we feel hopeless to help and want to throw money at them when we can. Man's free will is a door to eternal love for the God, but it's also a door of a narrow tunnel, spiraling downward into a pit of selfish deeds that affect millions.
I couldn't help but talk with my kids about it today, when Thanksgiving came up. They hear it all the time (we participate in the mentioned-above lesson at least once a day), but can they really grasp it?
My husband is particularly sensitive to this, and fears that we are raising materialistic, selfish beings, entitled and arrogant.

Our church is amazing at counteracting our greed-driven culture, and always has opportunities to "get your hands dirty" and use some elbow grease to help. One way we are going to participate, is by providing all the essentials of a Thanksgiving dinner for a needy family, using a convenient grocery bag and grocery list the church has handed out.
Something else we as a family are finally going to do is put our kids to work...at the regional food bank! Next Thursday, I pray their little eyes will be open and their hearts will beat wildly in their chests for the thousands of people they will help feed this holiday.
Christmas presents are also going to be downsized at our house this year. We always feel like we have to spend so much, but there's so much more to it than that. And I hope we build a foundation of outward focus for the boys, not of internal satisfaction. One way is that we have always packed shoeboxes full of gifts and necessities for children in other countries through Samaritan's Purse.
Can you make a difference this year in your own children? Check out Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child, or find a local food bank to help stock, box, serve!