Does anyone else feel like the commercialism of Christmas is getting completely out of control? Don’t get me wrong. I love giving gifts, and I admit, I love seeing the excitement on my kids faces when they receive the presents they’ve been eagerly anticipating. But last year, all the present giving was so far over the top. I came away from our family get together feeling so disappointed with the amount of gifts that were exchanged, and the amount of money that collectively must have been spent. Surely we could do something more significant with this money?
So this year, We have decided (my hubby and I) that Christmas will not be a present exchange. This year Christmas will be different. It will be meaningful and it will teach our children not only the true meaning of it, but hopefully it will awaken in them the desire to truly sacrifice in order to give. Instead of buying presents for each other, we are going to pool the money we would usually spend and donate it to a charity organisation that builds wells for villages in Africa. We have invited my family to join with us, and will invite my husbands family to do so aswell.
Along with this, so we can get the kids involved, we are organising a couple of fundraisers (Saturday BBQs at our local Bunnings store – HUGE hardware chain down under) to supplement the amount we are donating. We are excited about this project. I am happy that my children are excited too. I am hoping this will be a powerful teaching opportunity for them. For us all. I hope that it will be something significant to my children. Something they will remember, and something that will show them first hand the importance of helping and truly serving others.
For anyone interested in the details of the organisation we are donating to, It is Drop in the Bucket. They are a non-profit organisation specialising in bringing water to Africa. The link is http://dropinthebucket.org.