Wonderful Blessing: The Christmas Giving Box!

Do you ever wish for a meaningful way at Christmas to help your children become more “mission minded”?

I made this Christmas Giving Box with the Wonderful Blessing stamp to add to our Christmas traditions because of this true story I heard. (I wish I knew who to give credit to.)

Years ago, this family decided to spend less on gifts for each other and more on giving to a cause or charity. They knew it would be more a challenge for the younger kids to accept the changes, so they turned it into a month long celebration.

They also wanted to teach their kids about the wide variety of needs in the world and to develop an interest in getting involved.

So, each year, a different cause was chosen, ranging from the local food shelf to missions in Africa to a cancer fund for a particular child.

At Thanksgiving, the person in charge gave an informal report about where the money would be going and what it would be used for.

Here is what made this story so special to me: The year each child turned 12, he or she was given the honor of choosing the charity. (After that, he or she was added into the adult rotation.)

They found that the kids considered this a great honor and looked forward to it, and even at a young age, they were talking about what they might choose when it was their turn.

If a need was mentioned at church, or on TV, they would talk about choosing that for their turn. (And….often they added an offering from their allowance or income right then for that event, because they were engaged in the opportunities for making a difference.)

In addition to the power of “giving”, do you realize how few “coming of age” rituals we have in our society? What a meaningful way this is of recognizing a pre-adolescent as entering the adult world and being expected to make meaningful decisions for the entire family.

Of course, all of this could be adapted to your family. Your family might be your immediate family, or it might include three generations and aunts and uncles and cousins. The age for choosing could change, or even the method. Consider giving extra chores that the kids can choose to do just to earn money for the Giving Box.

The value is in the meaningfulness of the experience of giving! After all, at Christmas we are celebrating the greatest gift of all! As Christ gave, we also give.