But, frustration over the commercialism, controversy and stress of "the holiday" also looms throughout the month of December. And now that our little one is reaching an age of understanding, I feel the tug-of-war intensifying. How do we raise our child to enjoy the season God created without forgetting why the season exists in the first place? Abby is currently a bit obsessed with birthday parties, so she fully understands when we tell her Christmas is Jesus' birthday. But, explaining it in that fashion has made me even more aware of the many traditions we perform that have nothing to do with our Savior's birth. The biggest stumbling block for me is gifts. We thought about eliminating the practice, but I also want Abby to learn the joy of giving. And, then I get all stressed trying to figure out how to not stress and focus on Christ - aahhh! A little while ago we discovered an organization called Advent Conspiracy and I love it! This promo video sums up exactly how I feel! (note - the video is a bit cut off on this post, but if you click on the Y in the lower right corner you can watch it on Youtube instead).As well as providing a great perspective on Christmas, Advent Conspiracy teams with Living Water International to help provide clean drinking water in third world countries. "Lack of clean water kills more people everyday than anything." Their first promo video explained that Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year. And the estimated cost to make clean water available to everyone is $10 billion. Isn't that insane? If we just spent 2.2% less on Christmas than normal and instead gave that away, we could wipe out the world's water problem in one year! Think of what else we could do? Anyway, I just wanted to share something that really moved me. If you like it, check out the website or go to Youtube to see the many other videos they have. Or go to the Living Water website to see how you can give a giving gift!
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