Since Christmas is really about Jesus birthday we want Cory to grow up knowing the real meaning of the season, not thinking it's about Santa bringing him gifts.
When I was a kid we made a birthday cake for Jesus and sang to him. We'll be doing that this year, but what about the gifts part?
I've heard lots of ideas recently about how you can give Jesus a gift. Write something down that you want to work on in your own life and give it to him, etc. But I think for a 3 year old perhaps something more tangible is needed!
Enter Gifts of Compassion. Some of you may have heard, seen, or perhaps used the World Vision gift catalog. This one is very similar, but since we chose to support Compassion this is the one we will use. Basically you can give a gift to a family that will help them significantly. Anything from chickens and cows to soccer balls and small business start-up money. There's something for every budget from $10 on up.
As a family we'll sit down on Christmas or Christmas Eve and decide what fits our budget and what we would like to give. In this time of year when it seems all about getting or at the very least reciprocal giving, this is a great way to remember the One who actually gave His all for us.
Another idea: Do you have anyone in your life who seems to have it all? Or is just really hard to buy for? Perhaps you could buy a Compassion gift in their name. Find a token that represents that gift or even have your kids draw a picture and present it to them in a card. I flaked out on that this year, but I'm definitely keeping it in mind for next year!
No, our child is not deprived of presents either, but we chose to have them come from his family rather than Santa. St. Nicholas visited his shoes on the 6th of December, a German tradition, with a real story behind it.
I'm thinking this is in our future - as far as our family choosing to gift another family in need. I think that's important and teaches a valuable lesson to kids.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do have to say that, having had gifts given to various organizations in my name, I rather cringe away from that. So far no one has ever given to an organization that I remotely care for and I actually tend to find the gift a bit insulting. To me, it has always come across as rather thoughtless - like THEY were on a mission and they wanted to put me on it also. So I shy away from that. Even if it IS a Christian organization. If I want to give to it - I give to it in my name only. Because I'm obviously the one who cares.
We are excited to choose a gift or two from this catalog this year. We support Compassion over all other organizations so I was thrilled to see that they have a giving catalog like this. :) Bless you for spreading the word!!
ReplyDelete(By the way.... found your blog because I have a Google Alert set to notify me when anyone blogs about Compassion International!)
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