It just didn't feel like Christmas. I kept telling myself that it was because there was no snow on the ground. On Monday night we had a family meeting and officially 'ended' our official experiment for this year. Our grand total was (drum roll please.........................................................) $365.00!!!! I had opened up a separate checking account for this and that was our balance!
So we had a nice long chat and decided on the following:
$200.00 went to Heifer International. I have researched this charity and they have my full confidence. It is the 'teach a man to fish' concept and the kids are really excited about it:
$60.00 for a trio of rabbits (https://secure1.heifer.org/gift-catalog/rabbits.html)
$100.00 was used for local Christmas charity
$100.00 was used for local Christmas charity
$20.00 went to Community Action (local food bank) - did you know that the food bank can turn $1 into $3 worth of food and donations? It is nice to give food, but money goes further...
$65.00 went to the Central Asia Institute (https://www.ikat.org/). I absolutely love this organisation. Sawyer had just checked out a book from the library about the war in Afghanistan so the need for real education and equality for women over there was a topic we had just been discussing.
Suddenly it really feels like Christmas and I love it. I feel like my heart is just bursting with gratitude and I know that 'Christmas spirit' is really the love of our Heavenly Father that we can feel as we help take care of His children.
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a meaningful new year. It will be tough for us to beat this year but we will sure try!
