Greatest Gifts

As I mentioned a couple days ago, we have a lot of Christmas traditions in our family. I'm sure that in the coming years Hubby T and I will create even more with our new family. But I wanted to share one that we started in the last two years that I'm especially excited about. We are calling it the "greatest gift."

Each year when we make our Christmas lists, everyone, including Hubby T and me, will include on the list a charity or organization that they would like to make a gift to. The idea is that each of us will sacrifice a present we would normally receive and have that money instead be donated. I am hopeful that this will teach our children that it is more blessed to give than to receive and that they, who are so abundantly blessed, have a responsibility to give to those who are not. (Actually, I really hope that they eventually come to make this gift because they want to, not because they have to. God loves a cheerful giver, right?!)

This is the first year that all three of us gave and received "greatest gifts." Hubby T and Baby B gave my gift to the International Justice Mission, a human rights organization that fights for the victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression around the world. Baby B and I made a gift for Hubby T to Haiti Partners, an organization that is helping to rebuild Haiti and improve the country through education (and one of our friends from college works for them!) Hubby T and I made a gift to World Vision on behalf of Baby B, specifically to the fund that provides vaccinations for children around the world.

As I survey the vast mounds of presents that were so generously given to us by friends and family this year, I am glad that I have these "greatest gifts" in my heart to remind me that Christmas isn't just about the material things that we give and receive. It's about extending love to others, just as God extended his love to all mankind by sending his son to Earth. My hope is that every year our family will keep the cards and letters we receive from the organizations we support and put them in a scrapbook so that over time we will have a book to look back on and remember all those to whom we extended God's love.

What organization would you want your "greatest gift" to go to? Have you supported them yet this year? I hope that you will make room in your heart and wallet to do so.