Joy, the gift of Giving

The holiday season is quickly approaching.  This has to be one of my favorite times of the year.  The music, smells and decorations make it all exciting.  People hurrying and scurrying in the stores to find just what they need to gather friends and family under one roof in joyous celebration.  Ah! I LOVE it!

I can hardly wait to put up the tinsel and lights.  To wrap gifts and sip hot cocoa with little melting marshmallows. My favorite part is not receiving but giving gifts.  More than anything, I want to give my boys the gift of giving - joy.  Sharing opportunities with them and giving them the chance to, well, give.



So today we, as a family, went shopping.  Now our oldest son, who is 5, enjoys buying spending money.  He is more likely to buy something just to have it than he is because he actually wants to play with it.  As we ate lunch we explained to our boys - 5, 2 &1 - that we were going shopping in order to share Christmas with children around the world.  We asked them what things they thought other boys and girls would like.  And we allowed them to pick out items to send.  We, as a family and faith family, are packing shoe boxes to send to Operation Christmas Child.  A program sponsored by Samaritan's Purse.  We came home and filled the clear plastic shoe boxes with all sorts of goodies for 3 precious children somewhere in the world.  The boys put Christmas stickers on the outside of the boxes.  And in the midst of it all, our 5 year old says, "Mom, I love happy endings at Christmas."

It never occurred to me how giving would impact our oldest son.  To see the joy that filled his face, knowing that he would not be keeping the items he had chosen but instead sending them to another little boy or girl to enjoy.  Priceless.  Tomorrow we are going to make a card for each of our boxes.  Sending part of us with them as they travel.  Praying that some child, somewhere is impacted by a stranger from half way around the world.

As I sang my middle son to sleep tonight, these words took on a whole new picture for me.

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

This holiday season, won't you give to a child in need?  If you need some ideas, here are some great ones:

• Samaritan's Purse - give to Operation Christmas Child to help send these shoe boxes around the world!


• Compassion International - sponsorship is wonderful, I know from experience! You can also check out their gift catalog link in the top right hand side of their site.


• World Vision - another opportunity to sponsor a child in need.  Or just give a gift this season.


• Toys for Tots - donate monetarily or just give a toy


• Salvation Army Angel Tree - donate monetarily

You may already participate in some manner.  Thank you! However, if you've never experienced the joy of giving, I encourage you to do so this holiday season.

 

What's at Your Door?

I knew Sunday night that Monday was going to be one of those days. It's never good when you're preparing for bed and that sick feeling sweeps over you. Well, that was me at 10 PM last night. I can handle almost anything, but I just don't like being sick. I was finally able to crawl into bed and get, what I was hoping to be, a good nights sleep.

Monday was just a few short hours away and so many things were set to happen beginning early in the morning. I don't know about anyone else, but having three young children wears me out. I am beyond blessed to be able to stay home and raise our family. However, some days are, well, just better than others. Around 1 AM I feel my husband get out of bed and I realize our 2 year old, Sam, is wailing. Please understand, Sam is not your typical rock-me-back-to-sleep baby. He is a fighter. If he wakes up crying, it is a good indicator that sleep is not likely to happen again for 2 or 3 hours, if at all. My darling husband gets up and brings Sam into our room. For the next 2 hours, I'm pretty sure none of us slept.

My alarm went off at 5:45 AM. Why in the world, you ask. Because Monday is our school start date. School as in home school. It is also the beginning of the Hello Mornings Challenge. So, I set my alarm in order to get up and spend a few quiet moments in God's Word before my wild-eyed, wide-open boys rise and shine. And not to mention, it is also the start date for the fall session of Bible in 90 Days. Sounds like a lot of complaining, I know. Please, stay with me.

My boys were all awake and into everything by 7 AM. Sam was up first, shocker. (Do you sense the sarcasm?) Things were going pretty good until I put breakfast on the table. The fight began. Over the course of the next 12 hours, I had to fight with a 4 year old who is too much like his mother, our oven nearly caught fire and then tripped the breaker which took us all of 6 hours to find the breaker box (long story, don't ask) and my wonderful helpmate had taken the day to help me with things around the house so I could get our oldest acclimated to school.

When our boys laid down for the rest time, finally, I was able to catch 5 of 16 chapters in my reading for today. As the day wore on, the boys did not nap well and were up within an hour of laying down, fought most of the afternoon and generally grated on my nerves. My husband had to make multiple trips to town trying to get the stove to work. Needless to say, not much housework was done today. I had sat down in front of our entertainment center to put a movie on for the boys when I was reminded of something I had read earlier in the fleeting moments of quiet.

You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.

~Genesis 4:7 NLT

And it didn't stop there. As our little family of 5 sat and read the story A Roar of a Snore, I asked my oldest the question, "What problem did they have?" To which he replied, "They ate the apple. You know, they did not listen to God." Not the answer I was looking for but definitely the one I needed. What a reminder that had I ignored my alarm, put off my time in the Word, disregarded time spent in prayer, been angry at my 4 year old for his attitude, thrown a fit over the stove and the house or any combination of these mentioned above, I would've opened the door and invited sin to come on in. Today was not the best day by a long shot, but what I found in His Word has been a reminder that joy comes in the relationship and not the circumstance.