A Year of Jubilee

Ah, December!  I wait for you all year long!  December is here, and it's my favorite month of the year.  I love everything about December.  Decorations, family, friends, social events, Christmas, cider, pumpkin treats, holiday tunes, twinkly lights, togetherness... I could go on.  Not only do we celebrate our Savior's birth, but hubs and I celebrate our commitment to each other each December 17.  This year, we'll celebrate eight years together.

I've mentioned before that we are sort of counter-cultural when it comes to Christmas...we don't involve Santa!  Gasp!!!  Santa makes his appearance on a couple of our stockings and Christmas movies, but in general, he's not mentioned in our holiday celebrations.  Hubs and I decided before we had kids that we wanted the focus of our Christmas traditions to be Jesus Christ and His birth.  For this reason, we only give our children three gifts each, representing the three gifts the wise men brought to Jesus in Matthew 2.  Despite our best attempts to the contrary, our kids (like many others), still get wrapped up in the RECEIVING rather than the GIVING.  I'm sure I'm not the only mom who cringes this time of year when weekly errands at Target result in a cacophony of "can I haves" and "can we gets" as eye candy for kiddos is strategically strewn all along our in-store route.  In an attempt to combat the "gimmies" our children come by naturally, we've decided to declare this year a year of Jubilee in our house.  The idea of a year of Jubilee comes from the Old Testament, specifically Leviticus 25, but rather than having a Jubilee every 50 years, hubs and I have decided to have one every three years.  What this means for our family is that instead of giving gifts to each other this year, we've adopted some causes close to our heart, and we will "shop", as a family, for others.

This year, we've chosen three recipients of our giving.
1.  Our sponsored child with Africa New Life.  ANL allows sponsors to buy gifts for their child online, and I allowed Juliet and Liesel to each pick from the online list one item to send to her.  Liesel chose a backpack, Juliet chose a bible in her language, and I chose a more practical item, a kit with toiletries.
2.  Red Thread China is a business that we used to send a care package to Liesel while she was at her orphanage in China.  We've decided to send a "care package" of sorts to her former orphanage this Christmas.  We haven't chosen what we'll send just yet, but our options include a range of items from shoes and jammies to a cake!
3.  Angel Tree.  I love Angel Tree's ministry.  Last year, we chose two angels from the tree at our church, so we'll likely do this again.

The truth is, teaching our kids about the real meaning of Christmas is hard, and despite our best efforts, falling into materialism is an easy trap.  Even though our kids know they will not be receiving gifts from us this year, they still have moments of greed that take my breath away.  The best way I can think of to combat these attitudes of discontent is to set a repeated and consistent example of generosity and giving.  You don't have to stop giving gifts to your kiddos to begin teaching them about giving and thankfulness. You and your kiddos can "shop" for others this Christmas as you remember the gift of God to us, the Savior.  Below I've listed just a few of my favorite businesses and charities to help you get started.  Happy Giving!

1.  Show Hope~orphan care/adoption grants, www.showhopegifts.org
2.  Noonday Collection~support artisans in the poorest parts of the world by shopping consciously. www.noondaycollection.com/
3.  World Vision~Your kids can choose animals to buy for needy families in the poorest parts of the world.  These animals will provide food for a family, and possibly a source of income (ex. A chicken provides eggs for the family to eat and sell).  Kids get really excited about choosing their animals! :) You can also fund a micro loan for an entrepreneur to start a small business (ex. choose a woman who needs a loan to expand her grocery store).  Go to www.worldvision.org and click on "ways to give".
4.  Samaritan's purse~Operation Christmas Child, disaster relief, medical missions, etc... This is one of our favorites to give to for disaster relief aid.  We always give to Samaritan's Purse, rather than the Red Cross.  http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
5.  South Austin Pregnancy Resource Center~for those locally, take your kiddos shopping for diapers, wipes, baby clothes/toys and deliver them to SAPRC.  We love this organization!  http://www.saprc.org/  If you don't live in Austin, find a similar center in your own community!