Breaking my tradition...

OK. Anyone who is around me during this time of year knows that I am very particular about one certain tradition (actually, there's a few... but we're not going into all that), and that is the fact that I do not do anything "Christmas-y" until I see Santa come down the float at the end of the Macy's parade. After this, the Christmas season officially starts, but until then, I refuse to acknowledge it. I'm stubborn like that. :P

But this year, in the spirit of giving, I have officially broken that tradition. I got a gift for a foster child that was on one of the Angel Trees, and bought wrapping paper too, yesterday. I felt moved to get something, because I saw this one girl's card, and the fact that she was 15 caught my eye. I know how much harder it is for kids the older they get within the "system." People want to adopt young, and people always want to help cute little kids, but angsty teenagers take a bit more of an effort to love.

Plus, their Christmas gifts tend to run a bit more expensive. But I went ahead and got her the DVD player from her list. It was pretty cheap, and plus I know I have very giving friends to help me out with stuff like this. I already was repaid $15, chipped in from Ryan, Theresa, and my brother, and that's already almost half the cost. One of the things I love so much about my "crew" is that everyone chips in whenever necessary. That's what helped get me and so many people I know to Mexico, the Philippines, or wherever else God is calling them. Yes, I broke my tradition this year and bought a gift early. So sue me.

The reason I am posting this, though, is because I just got done looking through the World Vision gift catalog for this Christmas season, and I really wanted to share that on here. I wish I had the means to contribute to everything represented in that catalog. If you haven't seen it, World Vision offers the opportunity to buy really awesome things for people in poverty... things that will help turn their lives around. Some of the ones I remember are farm animals (goats, cows, chickens), school supplies, job training for women, clean water sources, malaria nets, safe housing, Bibles in native languages, soccer balls, musical instruments, farming tools, medication, help for sexually exploited girls... So many wonderful things.

If you want to check it out, go here for the online catalog. Look around. You can even purchase one of these things as a Christmas gift for someone you care about. Instead of buying some dumb bath set or random cologne, why not tell them that a child in poverty is now recieving an education? Or that a mother is receiving job training so that she can provide for her family? Or that an entire village is recieving clean water, and is now guarded against death from cholera?

I think it's a really cool way to show the love of Jesus in a practical way, both to our friends here and the people whose lives are affected by these gifts. We as Americans need to take a minute and turn the focus away from ourselves, even as we try to give Christmas gifts to each other. I would be really happy if this year someone contributed to a World Vision gift instead of getting me some dumb thing I don't even care about, and I'm sure many people would feel the same way as me.

:)