The continued reports of crimes against humanity throughout the civil war in Syria are absolutely heartbreaking. Chemical weapons have captured the headlines lately, but there are tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the terror in their home country. We must get in involved in this crisis…but NOT via the US Military!

Nearly 2 million refugees have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey…most of them are women and children. (more info here)

I don’t believe that cruise missiles are the answer. Caring for the hurting, the broken, the vulnerable and the displaced is where we will do the most good for humanity.

World Vision is on the ground bringing clean water, food, clothing and medicine to the refugees. We can help support this work.

CLICK HERE to partner in the efforts providing assistance to Syrian children & families.

“We have a lot more stuff than we need.”
“We don’t need more trinkets for our shelfs.”
“We seem to accumulate things and just store them.”
“We want the gifts we give and receive to have meaning.”
These are the realizations that changed how we do Christmas.

Several years ago we stopped buying ‘stuff’ for people at Christmas…and we stopped asking for ‘stuff’. We started doing our Christmas shopping through the World Vision Gift Catalog…and if someone wanted to shop for us, we asked them to do the same.

We decided we wanted our gift giving to matter…to have purpose…to bring hope and joy to our world. Now, I’m not saying we don’t buy gifts for our kids and lean into the magic of Christmas…I love the wonder of Christmas that happens with my kids…but we also wanted to teach our kids that we believe there’s more to the Christmas season than just hustle & bustle and consumerism and want…we get to do more than that.

The World Vision Gift Catalog lets us give a gift in someone’s name that brings life-changing possibilities to those needing it most. We can buy a goat or a chicken to help a family feed and provide for themselves. We can help orphans go to school or pitch-in to help dig a clean water well. There are a lot of creative ways to give and each one makes a powerful impact on someone’s life.

I love it!

Continue Reading…

The season’s first Christmas card arrived in our mailbox.
It was from our sponsored Daughter in Thailand.
Her name is Pornjaratsri and she is 17 years old.
She wrote a sweet note in her best English…

Dear Sponsor,
Wishing you peace, love and fun in Christmas and New Year.

So…definitely a good reminder that I have just enough time to send Christmas cards and letters to all our sponsored children. You can too.

If you sponsor a child with World Vision you can send a card or small 6×9 envelope with gifts via air mail to your child. You can also send an email now to your sponsored child in most countries.

When you write, it tells them they are loved and valued.
They don’t always feel that way.
Christmas is a great time to give a little hope.
A quick card or letter really does make a huge impact.

Check out the picture to the right and see the journey your letter takes…

To send an email to your sponsored child, you can CLICK HERE.
If you’re not sure what address to mail a card to, call World Vision at (888) 511-6548 and they’ll help you out.
Don’t sponsor a child yet? You can start today by visiting www.worldvision.org.

[HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS | I believe that goodwill and love actually trump consumerism and materialism in the hearts of most people this time of year. Several years ago, my family and I began a tradition in our home of giving away the money that we used to spend every Christmas on gifts. We began investing in gifts that bring hope to the widow and the orphan instead of gifts that would sit on a shelf or hang in a closet. The results have been huge…both for us and the beautiful people who live in places of great need. Our hearts have been moved to give more than gifts…but to give hope for the holidays.]