Encouraging Kids to Think of Others: Give Christmas Away

As a family, we have begun the tradition of teaching our children to give Christmas away.

3 years ago we became even more intentional about choosing ministries with which to partner. Not only is this important to teach our children around the year but especially at Christmas when the world is telling us to ask for lists of things. Even our families think we’re crazy and extreme some times. Let me encourage you to join us by telling you about the adventure God has taken us on as a family.

This year, when preparing the breakdown of our Christmas gift budget, we allocated money for several different ministries to advance the gospel in our town, state, country, and to the ends of the earth. Let me walk you through how our family does Operation Christmas Child Boxes:

• How many? We did 3 boxes this year: one for each child.
• What age? We did the age bracket that coordinated with each of our children’s ages.
• Where to shop? We grabbed some (new) things we already had laying around our house as well as collected things from Wal-Mart in the travel section for small items (also got plastic containers), and then the Dollar Tree where we got most of our items.
• What to pack? We chose to use plastic tubs the size of shoe boxes rather than cardboard shoeboxes so that the container can be a usable item as well. Then packed small toiletries (not liquids allowed) such as travel/foldable brush with a mirror inside, toothbrush and toothpaste, then we added tons of toys like coloring books, puppets,markers, hard candy (nothing that can melt), small cup, chalk, playdough, and bouncy balls. {if you’re doing multiple boxes, save money by purchasing packs of small items you can divide up into several boxes. ie markers, playdough, candy}
• How to pack? We let our children be involved as much as possible from picking out items to sorting them into their box. You also want to choose items that are as small as possible to have the ability to pack as much as possible into a shoe box size box.

• What’s the cost? We chose to spend a total of $60.00 for all 3 boxes. That is included $1.00 for each plastic tub, $7.00 to help ship each box, and average of $10.00 to stuff each box with items. There is NO RULE on how much or how little you have to spend.
• Additional perks? You can now track your gift to its location by paying the shipping online through Operation Christmas Child’s website and using the label they give to you!

God is growing His heart in our family by teaching us to give our Christmas away. Our family is learning that if we really believe that He loved us enough to give His Son to save us then we can be “His hands, His feet, His love”–the entire year–not just during the Christmas season.

I would love to challenge you to find fun, new, teachable ways to Give Your Christmas Away this year!

For more information from Samaritan’s Purse on Operation Christmas Child visit their website.