A Season For Giving

Here in Iowa we are now in the season of fall. The colors of the leaves on the trees are absolutely beautiful here. The temps are cooler, and judging by the 2 blankets on my bed last night, It’s clear the seasons have definitely changed
But this is fall, not winter. . And surely not Christmas, right?

I’ll be the first to admit that I think it is ridiculous that the stores already have Christmas stuff out…
I think that it’s ridiculous because they’re putting the stuff out in hopes of gaining more income by extending the holiday season.

If you promise not to make fun of me, I’ll let you in on a little secret… Here in our household we are actually really excited about Christmas already!
We went Christmas shopping this past weekend and wrapped the presents today!

For the last several years we quit buying our kids massive amounts of Christmas presents. And some years we didn’t buy them any material things at all. It’s one of the best decisions we have EVER made.
Every Christmas the kids would get new toys and then spend the next several months fighting over them, and then the several months after that not even touching them.
So one year we decided that instead of getting our children presents, we would let them go shopping and pick out gifts for Operation Christmas Child.
I seriously believe that they have more fun picking out toys and packing the boxes for another kid then they do open up their own Christmas presents on Christmas morning.

Through this our kids have learned to be more caring and thoughtful of others. They have also learned to be thankful for what they have. And from my standpoint, as the momma, the house is sure a lot cleaner without extra toys at Christmas!
We end up spending about $20-$25 for each box that we pack. $7 goes towards shipping the box.  Which is pretty cheap considering when I send Christmas presents to my brother and his family in Virginia I spend about $20-$30 just on the shipping! You know, depending on how close to Christmas I get to the post office and how quickly I need the packages to arrive there.
I know we would spend more than $75 on Christmas presents for our 3 kids.
These OCC gifts are more than just new things for the kids to play with.  These little boxes may end up being the only gift these kids ever get in their whole entire life.  Each box is also a way for these children to learn about Jesus.
I encourage you to look into Operation Christmas Child and if you feel led to, do what you can to help their ministry.