Giving

My 30th birthday has come and gone and with it, some of my unfinished aspirations. So I created a list of 30 Things I Still Want to Do, and this is my attempt to check #22 off my list.
So here I am. This is the real me. The unplugged version.

I am a mother of 3. I have two amazing boys, Ashton, and Preston, and one beautiful little girl. My daughter, Brooklyn Grace, is one of God's recent blessings to my husband and I. She is a symbol of His grace to us. I'll share more on that another time. There are many things I love to do, but one of them is going to the movies. My husband and I share a love for movies and have very similar taste when it comes to picking one out. So it is no surprise that our favorite thing to do on date night is dinner and a movie, (particularly if dinner is Mexican food). It's not very often, however, that we pick a movie as inspiring as the one we went to see tonight, "The Blind Side". Here we are right in the middle of this hectic holiday season and I find myself wondering what we could possibly do to teach our two boys what it means to give. To really give. I happen to know that my oldest son Ashton's love language is giving so he does it quite frequently.  But does he really understand the complete joy of giving to someone in need? Someone who has maybe never had anyone take the time of day to give something to them?

The movie we watched tonight really encompassed this idea for me. Without spoiling it, (for those of you who haven't seen it), I feel that this family really understood what it meant to give. To give so selflessly, asking for nothing in return is becoming something of anomaly in our current society. It is really refreshing to see how one family put the needs of someone else in front of their own.  I hope that we will find a way (or several ways) this Holiday Season to put the real meaning of Christmas into action.  Christ was the Ultimate Gift to us.  The Gift of salvation is one that no Christmas gift under the tree could ever supercede.  We could, however, reach out to those around us in need by giving something of ourselves as an example of the Ultimate Gift.  I really look forward to sharing in the experience of giving as a family and for exploring new ways to give of our time and money.  I hope you and your family are able to experience the joy of giving in a new way this Christmas as well.