December 1, 2008

Trying to Keep the Christ in Christmas

We took a family field trip today to the Operation Christmas Child distribution warehouse in Atlanta. Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse that sends shoeboxes filled with gifts to needy children around the world. Caleb enjoys shopping for the goodies every year since we always fill the boxes for a boy his same age. We’ve filled the shoeboxes for years so it was neat to see how they get sorted and shipped.

Another neat ministry of Samaritan’s Purse is their Christmas gift catalog which features 40 gifts of hope for a hurting world. That catalog was a breath of fresh air on the day it arrived among five toy magazines. It really helped me put the holidays in perspective for Caleb. We read through the entire catalog and picked two gifts to give. We picked to give a month’s worth of milk to a needy child. Caleb was shocked to find out some kids don’t have milk. He drinks over a gallon of milk a week, so it was an obvious gift for him to choose. We helped Andrew pick the gift of feeding a hungry baby for a month. We did this for family members that we don’t buy gifts for, but instead we make a donation in memory of loved ones that are no longer with us. Samaritan’s Purse sends out gift cards to tell them of our donation.

It is so easy to get caught up in the commercialism of the holidays. As parents, Andy and I love giving to our boys, but we know that we have to teach them that most of the world doesn’t live like we do. We are so blessed and we don’t want our boys to have a sense of entitlement. Our visit to Samaritan’s Purse helped us remember what is really important at Christmas.