Update on the small details...

Hopefully most of you have not yet bought your gift wrap for the Christmas season or if you have; you bought it at a discount last year and donated the difference.

Well if you have not here is a little update on my last "small details" post. It looks like Target is not carrying the St. Jude's wrap. In fact they are also not carrying paper that is made from recycled content. So with that in mind Target is probably not the best bet for your gift wrapping needs.

However Wal-Mart is carrying gift wrap that donates a portion of its proceeds to Friends of Earlier Breast Cancer Testing and carries the pink ribbon symbol to raise awareness. Plus they are carrying the St. Jude's gift wrap.

Now lets pretend for a moment like you have a lot of extra time on your hand. Well if you do and your extra crafty you can make your own Santa Sack or if your not any of the above you can buy one at Santa.cc. This is an idea that my family has used before. Basically you let Santa know that you do not want any gifts wrapped this year. Instead leave out the Santa Sack for the big guy to fill and come Christmas morning you have a big bag of Christmas presents for the little ones to enjoy.

Then you can take all the money and time you saved and donate to some worthy cause that will benefit far greater than the trash can will on Christmas morning.

Yet another way to give back...

Looking for another way to give back this year. Well check this facebook post out by a friend of mine who's daughter is living with Cystic Fibrosis...

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation teamed up with CVS/pharmacy & Warner Home Video again this year! They’re donating $5 of every DVD sale of these videos to the CF Foundation: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “The Year Without a Santa Claus,” “Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales” .........& “The Polar Express.” Stop by a CVS/pharmacy & buy your copies today!

To learn more about this fundraiser or Cystic Fibrosis visit the Cystic Fibrosis foundation. However if you prefer to save the cost of the video and donate that amount straight to the fight against Cystic Fibrosis you can visit http://www.cff.org/GetInvolved/ManyWaysToGive/MakeADonation/.

I know for a fact that your donation will make one very sweet little girl named Sydney extremely happy. Plus it might just mean that she sees a cure in her lifetime.

It's the small things...

It's the small things that make a big difference. It's taking the time to look at the details and asking yourself is God in the small stuff of my life. Does he or whatever values you hold too show in the small decisions you make?

In a perfect world our gifts would be gifts of time and charity. There would be no need for fancy presentations because the gift would be relational in nature or it would carry with it the beauty of God's love. However the reality is that we are accustomed to giving and will continue to do so. It's a small way that us imperfect humans show love to one another.

So that being said; what are the small details during the holiday season? One is the way we present our gifts.

• Could we choose to skip gift wrap so that we show our care for the earth and by doing so also make a difference with the money saved? For instance taking the money we spend on gift wrap and donating it to charity.
• Could we choose to wrap our gifts with recycled items (ie. paper bags, newspapers, old maps)? Then once again we would be saving money and helping the enviroment?
• Could we make the wrap a part of the present? Such as wrapping gifts in dishtowels or washclothes.
• Could we choose to buy recycled gift wrap?
• Could we choose to buy cheaper gift wrap and donate the difference to charity? 

God is in the small things. Our spending shows the condition of our heart. So with this small detail, gift wrap, you can make an impact in the world. One such impact is buying gift wrap that gives a percentage of it's proceeds to a charitable organization. In fact I just noticed that Dollar General is carrying gift wrap that is decorated with drawings done by the patients of St. Jude Children's Hospital and 40% of the purchase price goes directly to the hospital. It also can usually be found at Wal-Marts and Target. True...  it might not be the largest amount, but its a small light in a dark world.

Putting things in perspective...

I started this blog with good intentions. I wanted to share the joy of Christ and encourage others to celebrate Christmas fully. However I'm feeling guilty because I feel the endless organizing could be the one thing that distracts the most from the holiday. Planning is important, but is planning the best Christmas for your family excactly what God had in mine when he sent his son. My heart says, "No."

These small traditions were meant to bring my family closer to Christ and for the most part they do just that. However I dont want to replace one form of consumerism with another. I guess my hope was that if I could take the focus off the gifts than I could make the focus Jesus. Yet I worry that I have just traded one evil for another.

You see the picture of my family snug in their pajamas driving in our SUV to look at Christmas lights is starting to bother me. Although it is a very special time for our family, but lately it seems God is expanding my vision. He has given me a vision of the poor, the needy and the lost. He has made me want to look outside these four walls and celebrate our Christmas in a way that honors the heart of God. Afterall God's heart is with the poor, the widowed, the orphaned, and the lost. I want to be where God is and God is not in our celebrations. He is on the streets with those that are suffering the most.

The babe in the manger is crying out for justice. The question is.... "Will I listen?"