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It’s a…

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We had our sonogram this morning, at 9:45.  I only tell you that to let you have the opportunity to be proud of me for waiting all the way until 6:45 this evening to find out the gender of our precious angel (and to hopefully have you forgive me for waiting ALL.STINKIN’.DAY to reveal this news to you).

Our dear friend, Mel, offered to throw us a gender reveal party tonight.  I LOVED the idea.  I loved that it was something special and unique just for this #4 (heaven knows there will be very little of his/her VERY own that this angel will enjoy).  AND this way some of our friends and our family could participate in discovering the news.  Even my parents, who were far away, got to participate via Skype.  They wouldn’t have been able to do that in the sonogram room.  It felt like they were there…would have rather hugged their necks, but loved sharing it with them none-the-less.

SO….NO ONE knew.  The information was sealed in an envelope, delivered to a party store and the workers (apparently quite confused by the whole idea) filled a box full of appropriate colored balloons.  SO.MUCH.FUN…but it nearly killed me. 

Until we FINALLY GOT to open the box

And (attempt to) release the Balloons
(they were not very cooperative and only came out one at a time)
revealing that we will have…
A BOY!!!!!

A beautiful, healthy, precious gift of a BOY!!!  I’m so in love with him already.
and these guys are pretty excited, too

HIS NAME
When we first found out about this little one, months ago, I felt overwhelming pressure to find the perfect name.  I wanted it to carry meaning that really represented this “marker” for our family, the amazing way this sweet baby came to be part of our family.  I did lots of “research” about baby names and meanings but pretty well came up empty handed.  So I just began to pray that we would “know”.  UNTIL one day RRL and I sat down at a lunch date and both said the same name.  It was done.  THEN I found out what it meant, combined with the middle name we liked and knew it was perfect.
His first name is Christopher
meaning “One who bears Christ”
and his middle name is Teague
meaning “poet or poetic”
To us, his name is packed full of meaning.  To us it means:
The one who revealed Christ in and to our family in a creative way.  The one who marks a time when Christ revealed  HIMSELF to us in a way so poetic it nearly sings to us.  One who carries a legacy of Christ that we will always talk about and pray that generations to come will honor and cherish.
If that weren’t enough…he shares the name of someone we love deeply.  Someone we love like family.  A mentor and friend.  Someone we hope this little one looks to as a hero, just like we always have.  That said, the highlight of the night was the fact that some of the very first times our son’s name was spoken was in prayer by Chris.  Wow!

So, tonight we celebrated.  We celebrated with balloons.  We celebrated with prayer.  We celebrated with some of our favorite people.  We celebrated this sweet baby that we cannot wait to meet!

Oh, little one, I cannot wait to tell you how much you were loved from your very earliest days.
ABL

Gifts for Everyone: Cyber Monday update

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It is cyber Monday.  For me that means a few things:
1- my hotmail address (the one I give out when I do online shopping, etc) is overrun with “deals”
2- Many of my facebok friends have an opinion.  Some love it.  Some are sickened by it.  Some simply don’t have time to deal with it.
3- I reminds me that I still have a list of Christmas presents to shop for.
Hopefully this post helps with all of those things (regardless of the facebook opinion category you fall into).  I started a list last month of gifts for the person who has everything and wanted to expand it for some more ideas that other sent my way.  Go check out post #1 and add these to the list:
An update:
Bread for a Hungry World.  I already posted this organization in the previous post and there are lots of gift opportunities there (by giving to others), but I think this idea would be awesome.  Include the whole extended family and BUILD A HOUSE.  According to Bread for a Hungry World’s Director, a donation of just $1500 can build an ENTIRE HOUSE for a family in Honduras.  100% goes to building the house, no admin fees.  How cool would that be this Christmas? 

Give the gift of Comfort:
PUNJAMMIES™ are made by women in India rescued from forced prostitution seeking to rebuild their lives. Proceeds from the sales of PUNJAMMIES™ provide fair-trade wages, savings accounts, and holistic recovery care.  I think these PJs are BEAUTIFUL.  What a great gift idea.  Be sure to read the story behind the women who make these fun pajamas!

Stocking Stuffers:
All of the pictures below are items that cost less than $5.  AND the proceeds benefit the mission of Eternal Threads, which is “dedicated to improving the lives of women and children most at risk of extreme poverty, trafficking and other forms of exploitation by providing sustainable livelihoods through income generating projects.”

The Practical:
PROJECT 7.  I love this one because they some things I might already buy for stocking stuffers or holiday travel…and you can find these products at a lot of Walmart stores.  SUPER!  Buy gum, mint, bottled water and help support the mission of Project 7:
For every purchase of a Project 7 product, some good is done in seven areas of need – Feed the Hungry, Heal the Sick, Hope for Peace, House the Homeless, Quench the Thirsty, Teach them Well and Save the Earth. Non-profit organizations supporting any of these seven areas of need can submit applications to Project 7.

The splurge (for a cause):
The scarves are pricier, but absolutely beautiful.  I love that this is a local (for me) cause and that it was started by a Community group that I have volunteered with.
The Worn for Peace mission is to provide refugee women living in the United States a supplemental source of income, empowering them to rise above poverty. Each circle scarf is hand-knit by women who have survived the afflictions of their war-torn and poverty-stricken homelands.

So, get out there and do some Cyber Monday shopping for those that seem to “have everything” and while you are at it, make a huge difference this Christmas.

ABL

You were always meant to be

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“Was this baby EXPECTED?” (or insert… a suprise, planned, on purpose)

That is the overwhelming question that I get nearly everytime I share with someone that this tiny bundle will be our fourth. I struggle with how to answer the question, especially to a complete stranger.  I am past feeling like the question is insensitive, I realize that it comes with the best of intentions.  It is not even that I wish they wouldn’t ask.  The rush inside of me when I hear those words has more to do with not knowing how to answer.

How do I tell someone, anyone really, all that led up to this baby becoming part of our family.  How do I sum-up the story?  An amazingly beautiful story to us, the parents, but not one that others want to hear every detail of.  How could I do justice to the miraculous timing of this baby? How do I quickly share how it is possible that we were shocked by the news yet not surprised at all?  How do I say that yes, I understand that no birth control=possibility of a baby.  And in the same breath explain that I sold all of my baby-gear months ago feeling that our family was complete for the time.   How do I tell the story of feeling prepared by the Lord?  Prepared in a real and tangible way like nothing I’ve experienced before.  Prepared for children, specifically.  But how little I knew about what that preparation would mean and how hard RRL and I struggled through conversations about our faith in this area of having (or not having) more children.  I simply prayed (without telling a soul) that if more children were supposed to be part of our family, that they would “just show up.”  Wouldn’t that prayer sound CRAZY to anyone else- especially since I didn’t even know what it would mean?  Would it mean adoption, would it mean simply sharing ABOUT children with other parents, would it mean another pregnancy?  Certainly I did not know it would mean sharing our home with three (additional) small children just for five months.  How do I sum up the year that lead up to that “OH WOW, its positive” home pregnancy test?  A year of deep spiritual, emotional and physical bonding for RRL and I.  A year we saw how the Lord could use that physical bonding to help us SURVIVE (and even enjoy) this 10th year of our marriage.  The year that was the very very hardest, yet very very best of them all.  A year with more unexpected circumstances than either of us could have imagined.  The year we dug deep to make (and keep) a huge financial commitment yet were challenged with difficult financial circumstances.  The year we went from three children to six to four.  The year we learned to trust, to obey, to walk forward.  The year we grew.  And THEN explain that this baby was just the icing on the cake.  Not a cake we planned ANY detail of, but one of the sweetest we’ve ever tasted.

 I want an answer that tells the asker, that tells my own family, that even someday tells my child (really all 4 of my children) the TRUTH.
And this is the Truth:

Sweet baby of mine-
I do not know yet whether you are a girl or a boy.  I do not yet call you by name.  I have no idea who you will grow up to be.  I don’t know yet what you will look like (though a quick glance at your brothers and sister gives me a pretty good idea). But this I know…you were ALWAYS meant to be.

You were known long ago.  Long before I even met your Daddy and long before we began dreaming of children of our own. Each and every hair on your head is known, and was known long before you began to be knit together inside of me.You were ALWAYS meant to be.

You were created for a purpose, a purpose designed JUST for you long ago.  Its a special purpose that only you can fulfill.  And I cannot wait to see you become what you were ALWAYS meant to be.

You were GIVEN to our family.  You’ll be a special and unique individual, no one else in this world will be like you. But you’ll also get to be part of our little team.  A team that we pray can combine each of our gifts and talents and together accomplish the purposes the Lord sets before us.  We are bonded deeply by our intense love for each other.  You are a very special piece of this team. And you were ALWAYS meant to be.

I want you to know, precious one, that even though your Daddy and I have only known about you for a few short months, we already cannot imagine our lives without you.  Although we did not orchestrate the details of your existence, we KNOW and love the ONE who did.  We could not be more thrilled that he chose YOU for US.  We already love every single tiny ounce of you, though we don’t yet know much about you. We could not be more amazed at the ways HE chooses to bless us.  YOU are one of those blessings, one of our greatest blessings. 

AND YOU were always Always ALWAYS meant to be!
I love you,
Momma

So, yeah. How do you sum THAT up when someone asks the seemingly innocent, well purposed question? How can I explain that not a single detail of ANY of it (including this baby) was known or planned by me, yet because of God’s great love for us I’m not surprised a bit by the way He orchestrated it? Yes, this baby was planned. Yes, he or she was very expected. Nope, not a surprise at all. And definitely, MOST definitely this baby was ON PURPOSE.
Jeremiah 1:4-5
4 A message came to me from the Lord. He said, 5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s body I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart to serve me…”

ABL

Family Get-Away

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I will be honest, the idea for this little “trip” was born out of a bit of a pity-party.  It started as something of a consolation prize.  RRL and I have been planning for YEARS to take a big trip for our 10th anniversary.  We planned and dreamed and saved pretty much from the time we were married…and were ready to GO next summer.  With one little tiny change to those plans…CTL, our sweet number 4, due just a couple of months before we were to depart.  The trip was not one really conducive to taking a newborn and not one that could be moved to another time of year…but it is one that can wait until another year.  I’ll admit, we were a little sad about pushing that dream out a little further.  Not that we wished for it INSTEAD of our baby boy, just that it was a sacrifice…one of many we willingly make for our children.

SO, instead of pouting, we decided to celebrate what was keeping us home…our FAMILY.  And we used some of our saved money to take a little mini-vacation (in town) with our three favorite blonds.  It ended up being absolutely perfect!  By the end it DEFINITELY felt more like a VACATION full of much-needed family togetherness than any sort of “consolation prize”.  It really was a highlight of the whole year for all five of us, one we really needed.  And once again, it was a celebration of the fact that His plans far exceed all of our plans and dreams.
We went at a perfect time of year (before the holiday craziness) and were able to go during the week so there were very few people at a normally very crowded hotel. Thanks to the indoor waterpark, the hotel activities for children and bringing much of our own food with us, we barely had to leave the hotel at ALL. And as a result truly enjoyed nearly 3 days of uninterrupted family time.
We did not do a fantastic job capturing all the fun in photos…mostly because we were too busy enjoying it. But here are some highlights…

I’m pretty sure our kids would have been thrilled to just stay in the room and play in their “wolf den” complete with bunk beds and their own TV.  They thought this little area of their own was SO  cool.

But we did venture out, there was fun to be had…
like an elevator to ride!
And the kids club to play in, complete with BINGO! , a computer just for kids and Lou’s personal favorite…a place for her to “read” stories to her “class”!
The kids’ club actually provided activities throughout the hotel, like coloring pictures
  making oragmi wolves
And STORYTIME in our pajamas each night!
One of the best parts of storytime was that Lou finally found an over-sized character that she wasn’t afraid of!  We think it was the bow that convinced her.
A highlight of our little get-away was the evening that Lt D and his fiance joined us for dinner and storytime.  SUCH a treat since they were visiting from far away.
Most of our days, though, were spent in the WATER!
The boys, especially, LOVED the waterpark and played and played for hours.
KJ was absolutely fearless.  The “lazy river” was anything but lazy when trying to chase him through it and he would run head first into the waves in the wave pool as if daring them to knock him over. I hardly have any pictures of him in the water because he was always goin’ and doin’.  He did not stop. 
Cbug definitely enjoyed all the water and the slides, but was stuck somewhere between wanting to be cautious, perfectly content to just float around on his back AND trying to keep up with big brother, so wanting to be BIG.
Lou, as the only princess in the whole waterpark who insisted on wearing a bow, was perfectly happy in 1 foot or less of water at.all.times.  Occasionally, she would work up the nerve to reach her hand out and touch one of the fountains (that came up to her belly), but quite preferred to play her imaginary games of princess and frog in shallow water.  She loved it, though, and could have cared less if anyone at all played with her and really preferred that no one splash in her presence.  Oh, what a princess.
These pictures on the slide very much capture their three personalities in the waterpark.  You can barely see KJ because he believed the bigger the splash the better.  Cbug is really enjoying it, but in a more cautious way.  And Lou, the one time her Daddy and I PUT her on the kiddie slide, pouted all the way down.
We played and played as long as we could but we would know it was time to dry off and head upstairs when Lou’s lips started turning purple.

 What better way to end such a sweet time together, than to enjoy SWEETS for lunch on our last afternoon.

We loved every bit of this fun vacation together and the memories are sweet indeed!
ABL

REWIND: Adding to the case

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I blogged a year ago about the boys’ school providing significant evidence to enhance my case that my children are adorable.  I didn’t really need the proof then, but I was happy to receive it none-the-less.

Apparently, the case is not closed, more proof has been received and signed into evidence.
I’m happy to say it only further enhances the existing ruling.

Here’s further “proof” that they are, indeed, positively adorable.

How can you argue with that?
ABL

A Tradition and a Favorite Picture

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Starting early on Halloween morning, I got text messages from my family about their lunch or dinner plans.  For years, it has sort of been the running family joke about our Halloween tradition of eating soup and grilled cheese for dinner. The tradition dates back as long as I can remember.  The joke dates back to my freshman year of college when my slightly (read: very) homesick self attempted to “hold to tradition” by making soup and grilled cheese in my dorm room (using only a toaster and microwave) while back home, hundreds of miles away, the rest of my family went out to eat.
This year, once again, I made sure that at least FIVE of us STUCK to that tradition.
And hundreds of miles away:
one brother introduced his new fiance to the tradtion, too
one brother and his wife ate Mexican
and my parents went out to eat.
Ah well.
But good job, Lt D!  I knew I could count on you!!
Grilled Cheese on sour dough bread and Chicken noodle soup in the crockpot per this recipe:

Now for a new favorite picture.
A certain picture of the trio with Santa was my favorite, but it has been replaced.  The Santa picture was my favorite because of the way it captured so well the little personalities of my three favorite children.

This new picture is beloved for the SAME reason.
A picture truly is worth a thousand words.

Our Knight in shining armour, Princess Aurora, and the very scary Dragon (who would remind us that he was only PRETENDING to be scary.)
Compliant KJ, cooperating to get the job done.  Ready to go get candy and being old enough to know how to play “the game.”
Crazy Cbug, caught somewhere between making a mean dragon face and just being READY to get in the van and GO.  Not interested at all in faking anything just to appease his mother.
And then there’s Lou.  Always expressive, always in love with the camera, always caught between her two crazy brothers.

Yep, that is our crew. And I love every detail of this picture because I love every ounce of these three stinkers.
ABL

A favorite tradition: The Pumpkin Patch

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**Updated: apparently I have pregnancy brain (I love being able to blame things on  my unborn child)…This actually  makes the FOURTH year that Cindi and Cass have taken pictures of our crew in the pumpkin patch- meaning that no one else has ever taken pictures of Lou OR Cbug in the patch.  Just thought that was noteworthy.

I’m sure many of you share my insistence on taking pumpkin patch pictures each year…its a wonderful tradition. 

but JUST taking pumpkin patch pictures is not what makes this every-October-event a favorite tradition of mine. 

 MY favorite part is the official “photographers”. 

For three years the amazing Cindi/Cassidy duo (HOW DOES CINDI ALWAYS AVOID HAVING HER PICTURE TAKEN) has shown great patience, shared lots of laughs, chased my rascals, and helped pose the posse all over the pumpkin patch

…and did I mention patience?
I’m not sure anyone else could handle it, and I’m not sure with all the distractions the pumpkin patch entails, my three would cooperate with anyone else.  They love these two friends-turned-photographers and are therefore willing to cooperate (as best as can be expected from little ones who spy  a tractor, popcorn, a corn maze, other children having fun, wagons to pull, etc).
After three years of pumpkin patch together I KNOW that… 
No one else has ever taken Lou’s picture with these icons of fall. In all her princess glory. 
(she hates the camera…can’t you tell?

No one else could quite understand (and capture the fact) that this IS Cbug.

And no one else could understand the essential nature of nurturing KJ while treating him like the BIG 5-year-old that he is.

 So, I hope it is a tradition that continues for many years of fall. 

Amidst this craziness, though, I did think that maybe next year it would be easier to just throw a bunch of pumpkins out into our front yard and take pictures there with our crew of FOUR adorable punkins! 

 I can hardly even imagine that scene…but I know if anyone can capture it, it will be these two that love us enough to just maybe be crazy enough to try!
ABL

My very first Barbie Party

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I didn’t think it could get much better than last year’s Batman party…but it did. Oh WOW, it did.

My kids, the boys especially, are at an age where you simply can’t turn to the next age WITHOUT having a party. They don’t necessarily think you need a lot of guests, presents, or a big to-do, but you NEED to have a party. With a theme.

A regular conversation at our house is “whose birthday is next?” and we have to run down the list of family birthdays. When the boys realized that mine was next and coming soon (ie MONTHS ago), they started planning my party. Like last year, I decided to totally let them have free reign. For quite a while it was to be a Spiderman theme, but just a couple of weeks ago, my logical 5-year-old declared “Guys, Mom would probably like something girly. Maybe it should be Barbie instead.”  And from then on, Barbie it was.

If you’ve known me for long you realize the irony of this selection.  The humor in the fact that Spiderman might actually HAVE been a more accurate theme choice.  I’m very certain, in my entire life of birthday parties, I NEVER chose Barbie.  I barely even owned any of the dolls. AND I’m 100% sure I’ve never had a high-heeled anything atop my cake.  But, I love the fact that my sweet children decided that since Barbie is pink and I am a girl, I would LOVE this Barbie party.  And they were right.  I loved going all-out-pink and celebrating with some of my favorite little people.

For your Barbie party (per KJ)…
You need PINK.
Lots of pink.
So, we started with a pink cake (which equaled strawberry cake…YUM).
Then you need to get some pink Barbie decorations. Have you seen Barbie decorations lately?  Not your momma’s Barbie.  The glam, the sparkles, the HIGH.HEELED.SHOES (ok, maybe that part has not changed much).  This may be the first…and last…Barbie party at our house.  Where was the “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” party decor section?

For a little MORE pink, you need some pink balloons and streamers, in varying shades of pink.  By this point I was starting to channel my inner Shelby “my colours are blush and bashful, one is a much deeper shade than the other”.  I just dished out tape and let the kids stick streamers around the kitchen to their little hearts’ content.  This was a much better alternative in my mind to Cbug’s suggestion that we “paint the ceiling pink”. Um. No.

And last, but certainly not least…we needed something PINK to drink.  And what’s a party without Kool-Aid.  This would make approximately two times that I have prepared this drink for my children. 
I know, so deprived.
And there ya have it.  A Barbie party fit for a queen…or maybe just fit for an indulgent Momma who thinks it is awesome that her children wanted to make her day special. 
Thanks little ones. You always know how to make a girl feel loved. 
I can’t wait to see what next year’s theme is.

ABL

MMM: Pumpkin People

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Another fun Monday activity with my three little amigos- this week we made “pumpkin people”.
This is our second year to decorate pumpkins WITHOUT carving them.  This way they can do it themselves
(and may or may not be because I have no interest in putting my hands in that slime)
I will admit that I did have to constantly repeat to myself, “these are their pumpkins, these are their pumpkins” to keep myself from doing it for them or correcting things like uneven eyes or out-of-season stickers.  I know that completely SHOCKS you.
You will also be completely shocked to know that I took an over-abundance of pictures during this little activity.  It was just so much fun to see them create.  So, as a balance, I’ll try to limit the number of accompanying words (I know, I already failed).
So, to make pumpkin people…
First you cut some arms and legs.
Then fold ’em.
And attach them.

Next, you make the faces.  This was actually Cbug’s idea all by himself.  He figured out how to make eyes and a mouth and his big brother copied him.  I was pretty proud of our “middlest” who usually chooses to just do whatever big brother is doing.
Next, the hair (Cbug’s went for some “highlights”)
Then, the stickers.
Oh my, the stickers.
This was pretty much the only part that the little Princess was interested in.  So, I just let her “sticker” to her hearts’ content.  And, as I mentioned, the kiddos were not concerned at all about the “seasons” of their stickers.  So we had snowmen, valentines and shamrocks all attached to our pumpkin people.  KJ did try to make a connection to fall with his shamrocks.  He said that he was making “falling leaves” going down the back of his pumpkin person.  Ok.  I’ll buy that.

As Lou applied stickers above, she had her tongue out to concentrate.  A trait that runs in the family, apparently.

And the finished pumpkin people.  On their own, they each ended up making their people primarily out of their favorite colors which sure helped me in keeping them straight as to whose-was-whose.  Thanks, guys!
So, here is our little lineup of pumpkins.
Cbug’s
KJ’s
(which he says is a ninja)

and Lou’s

Um, and in case the “we stayed in our pajamas all day” wasn’t proof enough that just because we have MMM does NOT make it a perfect Monday….

Yeah, this is the darling princess after she had to be excused from the table for screaming at me about her abilities to use the scissors ALL.BY.HUH-SEF.  Herself cannot even open and close them on her own, but she was determined and I was in.the.way. 
So, yeah.  There was some of that kind of fun, too.  I mean, just in case you needed to a little reality check about our house!
Hope you are finding ways to make the “Mondays” in your life full of good memories that far outweigh the bad!
ABL

Gifts for the Person who has Everything

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This post could otherwise be called “When someone famous beats you to it…”
I promise I had this in the works before this post by Rachel Held Evans, a speaker and writer I’ve really come to admire in the last few months.  If you follow her blog, I’m pretty sure you know she’ll blow this poor attempt out of the water, so be watching there for more ideas. 

This is not a wish-list, although some of these items are things I WOULD love.
But, I’ve already told you all I want from you for MY birthday
(Have I already mentioned that there is a 5K this Saturday? AND that our family will be participating? AND that you can help me celebrate my birthday?? …just checking.)

Nope.  This actually is all about gifts for others.
Christmas is approaching. 
If you weren’t aware, every store in town is making sure you know.
I’m pretty sure they started the “spirit” around the 4th of July this year.  CRAZY I tell ya, just crazy.  But, for a few people I shop for, its good to have some extra time to be thinking about the gift.  I’m sure you have them in your life, too…the ones who have EVERYTHING.  They either have everything because when the newest something-or-other that they like comes out, they buy it.  OR they have everything because when the newest something-or-other comes out they really couldn’t care less.  Either way, in their minds (and mine) they have everything.

So, what to do?

This year, I’ve already been thinking about this and I need your help with the details.  I LOVE the idea of gifts that give more than just what is wrapped under the tree.  The gifts that pay something forward to someone else.  The gifts that help those who truly don’t have everything- maybe even those who have nothing.  This doesn’t mean that your gift receiver doesn’t get anything, it just means that for what you spend on the gift, someone else (who really needs it) benefits as well.

Here are a few examples:
an obvious one:
TOMS

 -Shoes that pledge to give a pair for every pair purchased.  You buy a pair for someone you love and in return someone without shoes might receive their very first pair.
-Here’s the thing, did you know that TOMS also does eyewear? 
Yep, give a super cool pair of sunglasses for a gift and someone else receives the gift of SIGHT.  How cool is that?

one that I’ve blogged about before:

Beautiful hand-made jewelry, bags, even bibs for babies.  I love that through this beautiful wearable art you help refugee families form community, make a place for themselves in a new culture, and you participate in making a real difference in the lives of these artists.
I love this piece:

a brand new one to me:
Hello Somebody
Simply put, the mission statement reads:
“Hello Somebody exists to feed and educate children, by providing an avenue of knowledge, in order to break the cycle of poverty and hunger within their generation”
I can definitely get on board with that…and with cool products like these watches it makes a great gift, too.

Moms making a difference:

I love that these products not only give back to children through proceeds, but also through the story they tell when you wear them.  There is literally something for everyone, from exercise gear to youth shirts to these fun baseball shirts:
Stocking stuffers:
Bread for a Hungry World
Ok, this one is a little different.  I don’t think you should give Uncle Joe an ACTUAL goat.  But, RRL and I have done this the last several years as great stocking stuffers…give a goat (or chickens, or doctor’s visit, or milk to an entire class) and help a family by providing the means to a more self-sufficient life.  The organization will print a certificate for you to “give” which explains the gift and the benefit to others.  Take one look at the gift catalog, that compares how big of a difference your gift-giving-money can make, and I don’t doubt you’ll be convicted.

I’m not necessarily advocating all of these organizations.  Some I know and love deeply based on the hearts of those at the lead, some I’m only just learning about.  The point is this: This Christmas, look for gifts that give more.  Look for gifts that make a difference.  They are out there.  What have you found? I’d love some other ideas!

ABL

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