Samaritan's Purse is one of our favorite organizations to support. They take care of the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of people all over the world, in the name of Jesus.
One of my favorite times of the year is when they send out their gift catalog. It is amazing to see how little money it takes to do things like care for an orphan for a month, or feed a hungry baby for a week, or buy a blanket , or even to buy a brood of chickens for a family to eat off of and sell - seriously the list is amazing and there is so much to choose from depending on how much (or little) you have to spend.
Last year we let Caleb pick out something that he would like to give and it was a great chance to talk with him about our responsibilities and how blessed we are! This year we will let both Caleb and Luke pick something.
Our kids don't get much for Christmas (from us anyway) because it isn't about what they are getting, it's about our Saviors birth and what Jesus gave and what they are giving. This is a great way to reaffirm that to them and more importantly, to ourselves! It's really hard as parents not to want to give your child all that they want for Christmas...and more. It's hard not to measure our job as a parents by how many gifts are under the tree. We're going to try hard this year not to do that by starting the season off with giving!
Please take some time to check out Samaritan's Purse gift catalog. Bless someone because I promise that you will walk away more blessed. We always do!
Works for us! For more ideas, head over to Rocks in my Dryer.
7 comments:
we are into less-materialistic Christmas celebrations, also. We love to give and usually just do something locally. We'll have to check out Samaritan's purse. thanks for the tip.
Isn't it amazing to see just how far our $$ can stretch?
I *just* talked with Randy about putting together a box for OCC...letting Josiah fill the box...and using that time to demonstrate what this Season is all about.
Thank you for sharing this, Sabrina!! I've done OCC for years and we just did our box for this year on Monday, but I had no idea this catalog existed. Wow.
Jen
I was reminded on Christian radio today that with the economy being the way it is we tend to give less, but the need to give is greater. Thanks for this idea. It's a good one for involving kids.
We just did Operation Christmas Child at MOPS this week and I have to say, that is one of my favorite shopping trips of the whole year!!! I love it that my girls want to pick out stuff that they would love to have and then give it to a little girl in need. We all feel such joy! It is definitely much better to give than to receive...
And thank you for supporting my Beauty that Counts endeavor - I appreciate you!!
I love that idea! We do several Operation Christmas Child boxes each year, but I didn't know they had a catalog too. I love the idea of giving to someone we don't even know at Christmas.
Your babies are adorable!
My Moms Club does OCC each year and I am collecting the boxes to be delivered. I did two boxes, but then I got a feeling (divinely inspired, I'm sure) that I should look around the house to see what else I could come up with. I found enough to make two more boxes!
Just looking around the house, I was able to find for each box: clothing (shirt, hat, scarf) something educational, candy, toys, art supplies, a stuffed animal, toothbrushes & paste, soap-all brand new- plus exactly two shoeboxes laying around to put it all in!
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