Think Christmas with Gifts that will Change Lives Forever
I have been in TO this weekend and this is significant for two reasons: 1) Even though I am not much of a shopper when I am at home, I do love to shop in cities not my own and 2) I met Stephanie from World Vision Canada at a conference that I was at and wanted an opportunity to share the amazing work that they do.
We already have the World Vision Gift Catalogue at home in the bathroom basket with the rest of our “urgent” reading material. This is because Daughter #2 and The Frenchman are foster parents to a World Vision child.
We are a family that loves to celebrate Christmas and plans are already being made about drawing names for our gift exchange, the location of our celebrations, dinner menu, etc., etc. I sometimes get stressed about Christmas because I want to give the family “exactly” what they asked for. When I read through a brochure like the one provided by World Vision, I realize what a ridiculous thing my stress is. “Lydia knows what it is like to be poor. To be hungry and have no food. To be sick and have no medicine. To not have even one dress without holes. Her parents are farmers barely scraping by in the bush country of Uganda. But this little girl’s life has begun to change…”
And so I am rethinking gift giving (and receiving) this Christmas. Sure I have been dreaming about that Kitchen Aid Mixer but that money could buy the following:
clothing for 250 children, or
9 pigs, or
medicines for 120 children, or
36 soccer balls, or
help protect 7 child laborers, or
help restore 5 child soldiers, or
help 5 sexually exploited children, or
educate 6 girls, or
provide a latrines for 3 communities, or
60 fruit trees
Without that mixer I will expend more calories and conserve energy too. My life is so full and I am richly blessed. I know this in my soul, so this Christmas, why do I need one more “thing”?
Kath’s quote: “It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest.”-Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Love-that is all.