So this is Christmas, it’s not what I expected.

This is kinda long so bear with me.

This Christmas was going to be different this year than all the other years. We didn’t have a lot of extra money this year so we were going to cut back. I was fine with that, in fact I think I’ve reached the point in my life (hence getting older-maybe too old) where I realized that I wanted stuff I needed for Christmas that I couldn’t afford for myself this year instead of extraneous stuff. For example, some new tennis shoes, my were getting holes in them, some new jeans (my old ones don’t fit thanks to KFJ making me run, I have lost weight, haha) I actually asked for new hubcaps this year, no joke b/c one of mine came off, a new hose, so I can clean my car, and going out to eat and a few other things. And honestly, it seemed like Christmas seemed more meaningful this year. I was more excited about Christmas and I felt like for once my heart was in the right place, it seemed so much more special.

And my mom had explained to me that I may not get everything on my list, even though she usually kills herself trying to get me everything I want because she loves to give presents rather than receive them. (She is awesome like that) She is also the person who is hardest to buy for (for everyone who was at church last Sunday) lol.

 

But anyway, the point is I wasn’t expecting much. And God has just blown me out of the water with blessings this year! For some reason everything that I wanted was on sale and we ended up having more money in our budget than expected. In fact my mom came to me a few days ago and was like “what else do you want for Christmas?” and I was like “you already got me everything on my list.”  Everything! Yeah. So it was really cool that we were trying to cut back and God blessed us.

 

THEN I GO TO CHURCH SUNDAY!!!!….here’s where it gets good

 

And our church has come up with the idea that as a congregation we can try to cut back a little this year and give the money that we would normally spend to kids in Africa with no clean water.  Its part of an organization called “living water” A small donation will give entire family clean water for 15 years.  15 YEARS!!!   That blew me away!

And I caught myself this week: I was getting some water and I thought I should drink about 4 water bottles a day to get 64 oz a day (which is supposed to be the recommended 8 glasses of water a day, correct me if that is wrong, I’m bad at conversions) and I was filling up my water bottle and I thought, “I’d drink more water if I had clean cold water at my fingertips all the time” (meaning that I wanted filtered water) and it dawned on me. There are kids halfway around the world that are drinking mud infested with bacteria (that they die from) and I’m complaining because I have to drink room temperature water that doesn’t come out of a Brita filter? What the crap is wrong with me?  I get to drink clear water and not just that, it’s COLD!  Who am I kidding?  God has blessed me so much just by being born in America and I take it for granted so much. I mean I heard someone say that most of the kids in Africa die before they are age 5, in fact they aren’t named before the age of 5 because most people don’t expect them to live that long…Yeah…

 

So if that tugs on your heartstrings and you want to be a part of it go here http://wellsforafrica.com

Or you can go here http://www.water.cc/living-water/get-involved/ways-to-give/

Also you can go to this website to help save women in Uganda. They make jewelry and sell it to support their families. It only costs $5.  www.beadsforlife.org

I just think it’s worthwhile to do something for others for Christmas. It’s so easy to make lists and get caught up in the shuffle, but what about the people that really NEED something that we take for granted every day?

 

HOW HAS GOD BLESSED YOU THIS CHRISTMAS?