Giving

Although fall is my favorite season of the year, we are entering my favorite time of the year.  I hope the difference is as evident to you as it is to me.  Thanksgiving, Christmas - brings a time of joy, love, and generosity to me.  During this time of year, I want my children to birth an attitude of praise and thanksgiving.  I also want to show and teach them there is a world out there full of people in need of love and help. 
As with many subjects, there is an internal struggle within me to be selfish and to be generous.  I catch myself thinking of, "one day I'll have..." then moments later think,"oh, I want to give to that cause or that project".  I realize there is a delicate balance but what I want to cultivate and nurture my heart toward is a heart of kindness and generosity.
Who would have thought kindness would be such a challenging subject matter?  I believe I took it for granted until here lately, with the kids getting older, I've been made aware of how snippy and harsh sounding I can be toward them.  Another doozy is my temperament while driving.  I really didn't pay attention to how I treated other drivers until I heard one of the kids say, "you shouldn't say 'idiot'".  Well, I'm working to improve my kindness.  I'm still reading The Happiness Project and she talks of a mindfulness of how we behave or treat others.  I'm trying to have an ongoing reminder in my head of, "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted...".
Back to generosity: We've participated in Operation Christmas Child in the past.  Numero Uno and I would buy a box "from" each of our children.  Our kids would be with us when we bought the supplies but that was the extent of their participation.  With the conversation I had with a friend earlier in the year of "teaching our kids that this earthly kingdom is not what life's about", I wanted to include my children more in the reasoning and process of Operation Christmas Child.  As usual here lately, I was able to find a pin on Pinterest with pointers on what to pack.

On a side note, I met the author of faithfulprovisions.com at the dot MOM conference.  She was really nice.  Her list of what to pack was very helpful.  It also included the idea of your child writing a letter to the recipient of the box and including a picture. 
So here is what we did this year:
1. I showed my kids the DVD provide by Operation Christmas Child (needless to say I was crying while watching the video).
2.  I asked my kids to think about how much of their own money they would like to give to buying items for Operation Christmas Child.
3. I added what me and Numero Uno were going to contribute financially to the project.
4.  I took the kids shopping and let them pick out what they thought were good ideas based off the list I copied from Pinterest.  I did add a blanket and toothbrush to each box.  I'm not sure my kids would have ever suggested either:)
5.  My kids wrote a letter and added their own pictures to their boxes. 

You know what I noticed?  These actions produced some results I wanted and others I did not.  The part I didn't want but realized was a necessary lesson? When one of my kids wanted to take the money back after he had given to the cause.  (Understand he only gave a little so it was not like he was left in need of something) Why?  Because he saw what we had added to the pile and thought he would be able to get all the money.  It was hard for me to see my kiddo not wanting to be a willing partner.  However, we all are selfish.  I'm even guilty of thinking "what could we do with the tithe we give?"  I feel a little ashamed of admitting that last one but it is  a life lesson I am still learning to give.  Now my reluctant one eventually abandoned his selfish desires and got involved in the process.  My kids really enjoyed the letter writing and it gave them a sense of ownership.  They also started asking questions about the boys and girls who would be receiving the boxes. 
My desire is to show my kids that I am still learning everyday to follow Christ, to deny self, to help others.  I do not want my relationship to be fake and I want to be open when I struggle with obedience because I believe that frankness will do more to show my kids what it means to follow Christ than slapping on a smile and listing out all the do's and don't's of the Christian life. Don't mistake what I'm saying, I would much rather give my kids the do's and don't's.  In fact, I would much rather they adhere to the "Do as I say and not as I do" philosophy but then in my heart I know there would be no depth to their character nor a true depth to their relationship with Christ.