Doing Things Differently --and a Giveaway

When Advent Conspiracy was brought to our family's attention last year, we decided it was time for a change in the way we did Christmas. We did some simplifying (okay, a lot of simplifying), and we spent our money differently. Very differently. I would like to take it a step further this year, but am still figuring out how that will look.

We halted the extended family gift exchange on my side a few years ago, and instead have come up with more creative ways to celebrate the season . . . a white elephant exchange is great fun, costs little (or nothing if you recycle an item from home) and brings lots of laughs! We all then use the money we would be spending on each other, to do things like filling our shoe boxes for orphans.

Last year for Bryan's side of the family we "shopped" from the World Vision Catalogue, choosing items that we knew would be meaningful to each family member. Things like a donation to "Education for Girls" for my mother-in-law, a retired teacher. A donation towards stocking part of a fish pond, for Grandpa . . . medical supplies for my sis-in-law, who is an RN. We also purchased water through Charity Water in honor of my parents-- a life giving gift to those in need, in honor of the people who gave me life! It's truly a win, win situation.

A little plug for Charity: water, if you are unfamiliar -- Private sponsors support all of their administrative costs, so 100% of the donation you make goes straight to building wells. One-hundred percent. That's as good as it gets.

Last year we also started a new tradition for the littles, a full blown birthday party for Jesus on Christmas Eve. We made a donation to Charity Water for our gift.

As a visual for Brogan and Teddi we brought a bottle of water to the party for Jesus --explaining to them that when we do this for Jesus we are really doing it for other people who really, really need water. Water = Life, I think that it's the perfect gift for Jesus--it's exactly what He gave us. His life.

I think this year, for Jesus, we will make a donation to the orphan babies at Bill and Lynsay's Morning Star Foundation, to enable them to keep loving on His littlest lambs.

Another great idea -- Taylor and Frankie have asked for TOMS Shoes for Christmas. (Although Taye has told me all they really want is water.) If you aren't familiar with TOMS -- for every pair of shoes you purchase, TOMS sends a pair of shoes to a child in need. "One for one. Using the purchasing powers of individuals to benefit the greater good." They have put shoes on the feet of thousands upon thousands of children. You can read the TOMS story here. I love it!

Keep reading, there really is going to be a giveaway . . .

Another idea I'm pondering is teachers gifts. How much Bath & Body*works, coffee mugs, or chocolate can one teacher need, or use? I just had an email from Love Without Boundaries about their 2009 gift guide. You can see the gift guide here. For a $10 donation you can purchase a school backpack for a Chinese orphan. I think that would be a great "teacher gift", don't you? For a $20 donation you can purchase 10 cleft bottles. A cleft bottle can be the difference between life and death for a cleft affected baby who has no ability to suck. I think cleft bottles would be the perfect "gift" for Teddi's speech therapists. I will let Teddi make cards announcing the gifts purchased in her teachers/therapists honor. I can't think of a better reason not to buy chocolate!

I would love for you to share with me the ways you and your family already do things differently, or plan to do things differently during this fast approaching Christmas season. In fact I have a sweet little bracelet (that is now sold out) from a great little Etsy shop called Water4Christmas, that I am going to give away! All of the items in the shop have been donated, and again 100% of the proceeds will go straight to Charity: Water. Thank you to my friend Beccy, for bringing this great little shop to my attention (Beccy has some great jewelry on the site as well)!

(Hand made elastic bracelet with sandcast, recycled glass,

fair trade african beads and a blue stained glass water droplet.

There are still bracelets with a clear water drop available on the site.)

So if you would like a chance to win this sweet little bracelet, just leave me a comment telling me one thing you already do differently, or at least one thing you plan to do differently this year. I will draw a name sometime after Thanksgiving!

If you haven't seen the new Advent Conspiracy video for 2009, here it is --

Worship Fully

Spend Less

Give More

Love All

Blessings from my nest ~

Tina