The stockings will be hung...(All I want for Christmas, part 2)

The stockings will be hung. Not even a mouse will be stirring. Our tree is up. The girls tree is up. The lights are on outside. And Santa will come. However, Mommy and Daddy will not.

Christmas is changing a bit for us this year. We're not doing presents. Not for ourselves, not for each other, and not for the girls. Josh and I have talked about it. Our girls have more than enough. We have more than enough. Others are not so lucky. We truly want to shout Jesus from the rooftops this year. One of the ways we want to do that is by giving the girls the gift of sponsoring a child. We have chosen to do so through Compassion International. I heard about Compassion through the Allume Conference and my sweet friend, Jessica. We want the girls to ideally "grow up" with the child we choose. We want collaboration to happen. We want them to see just how small the world should be.
We will pray together and search together on Christmas Day, as a family, for the child the Lord chooses for us to sponsor. When we do so we will provide food and clean water, medical care, educational opportunities, life-skills training, and most importantly the opportunity to hear about Jesus. How can we tell people about Jesus if we don't show them Jesus? That question has shaken me to my core so much over the last few months. We will also receive from the sponsorship. We will get a photo, the personal story of the child, and a sponsorship packet. We will be able to correspond with the child. We will get to pray for this child and invest in this child.
So, if you find yourself sick of the "stuff" through the holiday season, consider doing something different. Perhaps consider sponsoring a child....