Be A Blessing

I'm a little late but it's still Monday so I guess I can still participate in the Be A Blessing, Let Your Light Shine - from Mary and Sharon. The idea behind this is: We would like to get everyone involved-even the children. We want to be a blessing in His name this year. We would like you to come up with an idea that will enable you to reach out to someone in need during this Christmas season. If you are already involved in some type of Christmas giving tradition, we would like to hear about that too.

A few of the things I already do each year are:

1. Our base exchange has a "diamond tree" up with tags showing if it is for a boy/girl and what age. You chose a tag and buy a gift(s) for that child. These families are all from the base who are in need during the holiday season for whatever reason. We've always chosen a boy and a girl tag, and usually close in age to Kayla.

2. Annual Airman's Cookie Drive. This is a huge base-wide event where over 1000 dozen cookies are baked and donated. The first sergeants and chiefs then distribute bags full of cookies to each airman living in the dorms. I contribute several dozen cookies for this program.

3. Operation Christmas Child . Each year our local MOPS group participates in filling shoe boxes with goodies for children in other countries. This has already been accomplished as I brought in a bag of supplies/small toys at our last MOPS meeting.

4. I usually carry change with me so I can donate to the Salvation Army buckets in front of the mall.

New things I plan on doing this year:

1. I plan on purchasing this new movie - The Child King (click on the link to watch a trailer). What is so significant about purchasing a DVD and what does that have to do with being a blessing? Well for one it is a new holiday movie; here is the synopsis: It's an inspirational story about a determined young man with Down syndrome who takes his little brother on a life-changing quest to find Santa at the North Pole...The Child King is being hailed as a new "new holiday classic." As for being a blessing, well, 100% of the profits from the sale of the DVD go to the non-profit Child King Foundation. This organization administers funds and disburses grants to organizations, charities and individuals that assist those with intellectual disabilities. Sounds like something I want to support, especially during the holidays.

2. Our base commissary also has a tree with tags on it for those at the Veteran's Home. I haven't been able to participate in this every year as I don't go to the commissary that often and the tags are usually gone by the time I get there. This year I plan on picking up a tag as soon as they are available! They usually ask for things like socks, sweatsuits etc.

3. I saw this over at Once Upon A Family blog. Eden's parents are missionaries in Costa Rica and provide a Christmas gift for 75 children each year. Their goal is $20 a child and they've been able to raise enough funds for about 50 of the children. I plan on donating to this cause; you can read more about it on Eden's mom's blog Strolling.

4. Janeen over at Our Story posted a link for Lets Say Thanks!. You can send a FREE postcard to US military personnel serving overseas. It's so easy to do - just 3 simple steps! Pick out a card design, chose your message, submit your information and that's it! Xerox will send the postcard for you. I did this yesterday and was done in about 5 minutes.

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Also speaking of the holidays, Overwhelmed With Joy is hosting a Hot Deals For A Cool Christmas. If you know of any great on-or off-line coupons/deals for some holiday shopping, just do a post about it and sign up with her Mr. Linky. I haven't come across any yet, but I'll be checking her site to see what others have found!