I can recall as a young child being enamored by a story my mother told me. I found it absolutely fantastical, and I would beg her to tell it again. Every time she retold how the young woman chopped off and sold her beautiful, long hair, or how the young man parted with his precious pocket watch that had belonged to his grandfather I would listen raptly in awe.
Imagine giving up something so special to you so that you were able to give a gift to someone else?!
Sacrificial giving. That was the theme of the story she told, and later when I grew older and actually read The Gift of the Magi, I was just as captivated by the tale.
What’s happened to this type of giving, I often wonder. It’s easier to become consumed with commercialism, and though many of us break the bank at Christmas time making it super special for our kids, is that really all there is to give at Christmas time? Isn’t there more? Something special, something meaningful, something that fills our souls with a deep contentment that is far removed from the dread you feel when you look over your credit card statement come January.
This year I found just that. I found an opportunity to give that reminded me of the warmth I experienced when Momma had first told me about the love offering extended in the tale of The Gift of the Magi.
I was already familiar with an organization called Samaritan’s Purse. If you’re not, they are a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
What I was not familiar with was a particular opportunity they offer at Christmas time to give a gift in a new way. It’s called the Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog.
The Samaritan’s Purse gift catalog includes exciting and practical ways that you can be a part of sharing the Good News with hurting people around the world. In everything they do, they want to lift up the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
• The Samaritan’s Purse gift catalog features 42 gifts that you can purchase to help people in need and share the Gospel.
• Gifts include things like purchasing baby chicks for $14 so that an impoverished family has an ongoing source of nutrition and supplemental income or spending $25 to provide warm clothes and shoes to families fleeing to safety in northern Iraq.
• Gifts range from $7 to $35,000, but you can always share the cost by donating a portion of the amount to a project you are passionate about.
I saw it, and I knew that this was the way to truly give at Christmas time. These gifts were ones that, although had a monetary value attached, couldn’t be given a price tag in essence. This sacrificial type of giving was priceless, and an opportunity to show my children what giving really meant.
I love this quote from How the Grinch Stole Christmas:
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
Perhaps this year you too wish your Christmas giving to mean a little bit more. A great opportunity to exercise that desire is through giving via Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog.
Follow this link to be a part of something more this year, and do Christmas a little bit different. You’ll be glad you did.