Season of Giving

I'm trying to teach the kids what the holidays are really about, not just get, get, get, but giving! I really think they are at a good age to get it this year, and not just nod and say, "Yeah, whatever."

So, in the spirit of Christmas, we've found some good places to donate to, and we talked to the kids about each place, what they do, how they help people, etc. I'm so excited that they are learning this lesson early in life, that it's so much better to give than to receive. We always give to our church, and encourage the kids to give also, and right now our church is doing a "Heart for the House" offering, and thankfully we were all able to donate to that (the kids had their very own offering in class).

And in case you were looking for a good place to donate this holiday season, may I suggest the following, these are the causes that we decided to help out this year:

Book of Hope International, this ministry came to our church and I was so blown away by their leader. Maybe it's from my days as a missionary, but his stories were incredible and I loved listening to him share about their work. What they've done is translate the 4 gospels into one book for children, and go around the world giving this book to an entire country's public school system. Go to their website and check it out, you will be impressed. So far, they've given over 532 million books to children around the world.

Soles4Souls is an organization that donates shoes to kids who've never owned a pair of shoes. Their message is simple, to impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes. Right now they are trying to raise 50,000 pair of shoes in 50 days. They can do it!

Bikes for Kids is a local charity that raises money to buy bikes for kids that don't have a bike, and probably wouldn't have any present under the tree. The kids really want to go meet the local DJ's who put this on every year, so if we can get up and out early enough on Tuesday, we will get to meet them and hand in our donation live!

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, of course, as a charity that is near and dear to my heart. November 24th was the 9th anniversary of my mom's death from breast cancer. So, any chance I get I try to donate to Komen Austin, for breast cancer research and to help low income women get mammograms.

I'm hoping by sharing these, you will either donate to them, or find your own charity that is important to you and donate, and get your kids involved as well, it's never to early learn the true meaning of Christmas!