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Spend Less to Give More: Food for Thought

Spend Less to Give More...Food for Thought this Christmas via thinkingcloset.com

Do you ever see a film or a commercial that just strikes you somewhere deep, and you never forget it?

That’s what happened to me when I first saw “The Christmas Conspiracy” video a few years back when our friend Denice P. posted it on her Facebook wall.

If you have two-and-a-half minutes to spare, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfDit6g_QpY

It’s a simple concept, but one that I think we all need to be reminded of.  I know I do.  It’s easy to get sucked into the hustle and bustle of the holidays, and the pressure to go “bigger and better” with gifts year after year.

However, some of the best Christmas gifts I have received (and given) were made by hand.  Starting when I was in college, my family and I all drew names from a hat.  That name became the one person to whom you gave a gift, and as a rule, you couldn’t spend more than a few dollars on your gift.  So, instead, we ended up creating things for each other – – theatrical presentations, memory books, special “dates” together.  The year I took my Dad in to N.Y.C. to visit The Museum of Television and Radio (now named The Paley Center for Media) remains one of our most treasured times together.

So, if you’re interested in cutting back on how much you spend on gifts this Christmas in order to spend more time together and give some of that money away, here are some other organizations in addition to The Water Project that my husband and I have supported.  They all do incredible work for children and families in need across the globe, and I’ll add that they’re organizations of integrity that put their money right where the need is greatest.  Their high scores on Charity Navigator are a testament to that.

  • Compassion International – With a donation of $38/month, you can sponsor a child through Compassion International.  This helps cover school fees, tutoring, and supplementary food if needed.  The best part is that you can communicate with your sponsored child through letters and photos.  Mark and I currently sponsor a little boy named Marcos from the Dominican Republic.  He recently sent us a letter that included a sketch of his hand and foot.  You can bet we sent him back our own hand sketches!
  • World Vision – You can also support a child through World Vision.  Or if you’re looking for a one-time gift, they have an online catalog with over 100 meaningful gifts.  For example, with a donation of $100, you can give a goat and two chickens to help provide a hungry family with milk, cheese, and eggs.  For $85, you can give a young Cambodian girl a bicycle to help transport her safely and speedily to school.
  • International Justice Mission – I.J.M. is a human rights organization that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.  They have a team of lawyers, investigators, and social workers that collaborate with local and state authorities to provide support to victims and convict perpetrators.  While exploring their website, I discovered that they have their own version of the above video above that you can watch here.

Giving gifts to each other is a wonderful part of Christmas.  But I know I appreciate the reminder that “each other” can include people I have never met before in a country I have never visited before.  Our world is wide.

So, there’s some food for thought as we venture forward in this season of Advent.  What noteworthy causes do you believe in or support?  I’d love to hear about them.

This is Lauren, signing off.

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25 Comments

  1. Love those ideas – both your own family tradition and doing something for charity! My colleague is organizing help for school girls (and families) in Nepal, and that sounds really great too. For example you could sponsor a beehive – how cool is that?

  2. Thank you for this reminder during this time. My side of the family decided to stop giving gifts after the kids (me and my three brothers) were grown up. It just didn’t make sense anymore. We implemented a gifts for children only rule, because the real gift for adults is seeing the delight on a child’s face. (We are a family of adults, with only 1 baby at 1 years old). We still get together, but that is what everyone is really looking forward to for Christmas. That and food. ha!

    My fiance’s side of the family still gives gifts (also a family of adults with only 1 child). Every year its the same thing. We have to come up with suggestions on what they should give us…! It seems soooo bizarre to me! Couldn’t I have just gotten myself a gift?

    And then his mom insists on giving us money but SHES the one that needs money! Not us. It feels so strange accepting $100 from someone who barely makes ends meet. If she sends us checks, we end up not cashing them.

    I know it’s the thought that counts… I just think it isn’t necessary and we should take joy in each others company and that should be reward enough…

    I do have to admit that it has been fun coming up with gifts for them. This year I am making jewelry for all the girls -in-laws, which takes care of 90% of them. Saves us lots of money too! I definitely agree about the handmade presents meaning more. I’m so excited about my hand made jewelry for them!!! 😀

    We tried talking my mother-in-law into mailing us some of my fiance’s old Christmas stuff – like his childhood stocking and some collectors ornaments – and making that our gift for this year, but she already has a gift in mind. I hope we didn’t offend her, but she really doesn’t have much. She doesn’t even have proper heating in her trailer – she’s using space heaters – and for the longest time (more than 4 years?) she had a broken oven! She only got it replaced because someone donated one to her. 🙁

    Any who… long wall of text for you to read, Lauren. Haha!

    1. I LOVE receiving comments on my blog and interacting with those who read my posts, so seeing all of these longer comments was like hitting the jackpot! Thanks for taking the time to write such a lengthy response, Bethany.

      I’m fascinated by your story about your future mother-in-law. It sounds like it’s a real sacrifice for her to give you money year after year, which is maybe the reason why it’s so important to her to do. Clearly, she has this idea that Christmas is about BIG gifts. I wonder if one year, you could make a pitch to the WHOLE family about doing a Secret Santa and only doing one gift per person that has to be $20 or less…maybe that would help break her of the habit of giving so much money to you when she clearly doesn’t have much. (It’s actually quite touching, though I’m sure it makes you feel uncomfortable to receive.) I like your idea of asking for childhood memorabilia for Christmas…hope she takes you up on it.

      And your handmade jewelry sounds loverly! What a great gift idea. I was just talking with my boss today about how much fun it is as a giver to MAKE gifts…it ends up being a gift to us, as well, doesn’t it?

  3. I loved this little video! Four years back I watched the wonderful documentary, “What would Jesus buy?” It’s a film for the religious and non-religious and really just hones in on consumption and consumerism, in relation to Christmas and it’s impact on us and our relationships. Since watching that my family and I no longer do holidays and view them so differently now. We still give gifts but on our own terms and when we want, but also with things we know that person wants/needs, things that are handmade or full of meaning. One of the best gifts I ever got was a donation in my name to Farm Sanctuary and I wasn’t given that gift during a holiday but just because, which made it mean that much more. I can’t express how not participating in the consumerism has benefited my family and our relationships these past four years. I highly recommend that film to all and to just take a new look at the holidays because Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, etc have been so consumption (more overconsumption) focused, not valuing things like time, compassion and the true definition of bonding.

    ~Aubrey
    Project Lovegood

    1. I love that you AND your family reevaluated your approach to the holidays and have refocused your giving. That’s truly admirable! And counter-cultural.

      I’ve never heard of the film you mention, but I’d love to check it out. Thanks for the tip and for sharing so generously in this comment, Aubrey.

      1. First I want to just thank you for taking the time to comment back to my comment on your wonderful post. Often I don’t get to hear back from the blogger and as a blogger myself I want that connection and have to reply to everyone who takes the time to comment on my posts. So thanks for doing that. It makes me that much more invested in your blog and connected to your writing. 🙂

        We are a bit counter-cultural in many ways. With that said, I don’t want to imply that everyone go and quit the holidays. If they decide to then I encourage and support them but you an certainly, as you pointed out, celebrate in a more compassionate and connected way. That decision was just something that fit with who we are and what we believe.

        And thank you for stopping by and leaving such thoughtful comments. I too replied and look forward to more of your posts!

        ~Aubrey

        1. Thanks for the feedback. You are so welcome! I’m all about responding to comments in order to connect with others (like you), and when I have time, I love to click over to visit the blogs of those who comment. It has helped me discover so many neat women out there…like yourself! I really got lost in so many of your fabulous posts last night.

  4. This is exactly the way I feel. Everyday I struggle with wanting more, more, more, but knowing I have too much and need less; while there are others that have not enough. We only celebrate Christmas at our house because it is a tradition with our families, not because we want to participate in the over-consumerism. I am dreading the inundation of thoughtful, but excessive, gifts that my children will receive this Christmas. I am trying to be more thoughtful about my gifts in terms of usefulness. My in-laws went to Africa (Kenya) last summer and brought back first-hand knowledge of the water shortage, to which the video makes reference. Thank you for reminding me and for letting me know I am not the only one that feels this way. I’m reblogging today!

    1. Christine, my long lost “twin,” you are not alone – – and clearly from the comments today, many others resonate with this sentiment. I think we all have to make conscious efforts each Christmas not to get sucked into the over-consumerism that plagues our country…and as you admitted, plagues us!

      I love that you’re being more intentional about the kinds of gifts you give. I’m with ya, sister! Small things with great love, right? And how cool that your in-laws had the opportunity to travel to Kenya. I’d love to swap stories with them. I visited Tanzania in 2011, and although I didn’t see much of the water-shortage as I was in a teaching setting, I saw other impacts of poverty on the lives of my students. It was undoubtedly the most challenging teaching experience I have ever had, but also one of the most profound. When you come to Orlando someday, we’ll grab coffee, and I’ll tell you all about it…. 😉

  5. Thanks for the healthy reminder and good example you set Lauren. Four years ago I recieved a Christmas gift catalogue from Gospel For Asia and purchased a sewing machine for a woman in India as a gift for my mother. In addition to a card, they sent a dvd with the story of a woman whose life was changed by the gift of a sewing machine which she used to support her family. Mom teared up (which didn’t happen very often) and watched the video over and over again. She said it was the best gift she had ever gotten – that it was so special that she was not going to tell anyone about it, just treasure it in her heart. We had no way of knowing that it would be our last Christmas with her and that she would be in heaven by the time we celebrated the next one. I’m grateful for the opportunity to change the life of a family in India and to have impacted the life of the woman who gave me life and cared so much for a sister she’d never met, half way around the world who was struggling to provide for hers.

    1. What a beautiful story Nancy. That just warms my heart. I especially love that she chose to not share it and just treasure how it makes her feel. That is compassion to the deepest level, both the acts by all and reactions.

    2. Thank you so much for sharing this story with us, Nancy. It is beautifully told and drives home the impact of giving. Not only does it powerfully impact the recipient, but the giver! I love how your mother was so moved by the sewing machine gift in her honor and the story told on the DVD. That speaks a lot to her heart and her humble spirit. And how wonderful that you had the opportunity to share this experience with her before she passed away. This was a gift on so many levels…and now you’re gifting us with the story of it. God is good!

  6. This rings SO true, Lauren, especially as I remember the gifts you and Lisbeth made me and the times spent together! I still have all your gifts, like “This is the place where…” and the special edition “Newspaper” you recreated for me based on our hospital newsletter that was full of articles and photos and comments that took so much effort and made me feel very loved. I have it on my bulletin board at work and still refer to it when people talk about awards and recognition. I say, “This is all I will ever need!” Lisbeth’s photo display is on my dresser. The memories of special moments continue to make me smile with delight.T You and Lisbeth gave us all permission to make things and memories.
    Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
    As far as Christmas charities, our church did the Operation Christmas Child boxes this year for the second time, and I think we’ll continue. You fill a box with goodies for a boy or girl (plus $7.00) and it goes via Samaritan’s Purse to the poor of the world. They also share the good news with the children when they distribute the gifts. The feedback I got was, “I wish our Christmas gifts could be like this…filling a shoebox!” or “My kids really enjoyed picking out gifts for other children who may never have received much for Christmas.”

    You introduced me to Amani http://www.amaniafrica.org/ which is a neat way to give a gift PLUS know it will support women in business is Africa.
    Supporting our local church is something else we like to do at Christmas. Can’t wait to hear what others say as well.

    1. Wow. Thank you for this comment, Mom, which is both a walk down memory lane and a reminder to me of what an incredible woman you are. You always instilled in us an appreciate for things handmade. I’ll never forget the Cabbage Patch doll you made me, the dollhouse you and Dad built, painted, wallpapered, all of those American Girl doll outfits you sewed, the scarf you knitted for me…I could go on and on! And thank you for always treasuring the gifts we made you. We all spurred each other on, didn’t we? Don’t we!

      Thanks for drawing our attention to Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan’s Purse, Amani, and local churches. All do such important work in our communities near and far!

  7. Great post to put us in the right Christmas spirit, Lauren! Thank you for those links.
    After all the attempts to change you from a noreply blogger, I learned last night that my comments are also set at noreply. Ha! Hopefully we’ll get this figured out and then we can both do posts about it 🙂

    1. Oh my goodness, that is so crazy! Yes, we must solve this mystery, and share our discoveries with Blogland. I am still hopeful that our attempts yesterday were successful, and just needed a little bit of time to go into the effect. Will be sure to comment on your blog later to test it out. Wish I could help you with yours. I have never had the “no-reply” problem with my commenters. Must be a blogger thing….

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