Our favorite kind of gift-giving

Three years ago this Christmas, we began a new tradition of gift-giving.

It has become my favorite tradition, and I'd like to take a few minutes to share it with you.

Ella got her doll, yes. Isaac his LEGOS, and Isaias his football jersey. Adelia and Audra received gifts from us, too.

But even better, we were able to gift other children with the means to learn God's Word~ through a Bible camp or materials for a Sunday School class. We helped save the lives of mothers and babies and we were able to give money to rescue a child from bondage and abuse. Ella gave clothing and shoes to children, seedlings for fruit trees for a family, and the gift of honey bees to help a family begin a business through the sales of honey and beeswax. She also gave mosquito nets. Isaac gave little stuffed lambs to bring comfort to hurting children, and he gave a box of food containing rice, beans, soup and other staples for a family. Isaias gave baby chicks to a family and gave storybooks so that several children could hear the story of Jesus.

We do this by using the Samaritan's Purse gift catalog. The catalog itself is a much anticipated delivery and our children are quite literally jumping up and down when they see it come in the mail~ sometime in November, I think. They immediately scramble to the couch and pore over its pages, talking about what they will give this year.

Finally, during an evening close to Christmas, we sit with the catalog, all together, and select gifts to give. And then we pray for the people who will receive what we've given, and for the Samaritan's Purse workers who not only bring aid to families, but share why they do so:

"As our teams work in crisis areas of the world, people often ask, "Why did you come?" The answer is always the same: "We have come to help you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Our ministry is all about Jesus—first, last, and always. As the Apostle Paul said, "For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:5, NIV).*

We are so abundantly blessed. God has given us so much, and it all belongs to Him anyway, so we joyfully give it. We pray that He will use it for His kingdom, that lives will be saved because of these gifts. And we hope that our children will begin early to have hearts of compassion for the poor, to be cheerful givers, and to develop habits of lifelong giving.


*Quoted from their website.