I’ve been meaning to write about John’s 26th birthday present since last July, and now seems as good a time as any: Valentine’s Day is coming up, and I know a lot of y’all are looking for sweet, low-cost, and thoughtful gifts for your significant others! (Me too.) Since his birthday fell on a week day last year, I wrapped up a few small packages — one for every two hours he would be at work — and marked them with the times they were to be opened. I kept the packaging discreet so as not to embarrass him in front of his coworkers :)

I can’t remember all of the gifts, but I know I included a can of his favorite limonata at 12:30 (lunch!), a gift certificate for a bucket of balls at our local driving range, a $10 Chick-fil-a gift card, an issue of a favorite magazine, and a can of tennis balls. The gifts kept rolling after he got home; I even put a late-night one in the freezer — a package of Dove bars! Yep, it was wrapped, too :)

I did get him a larger gift that he opened after work, but I think (hope) the best part of last year’s celebration was the hourly reminder that he was loved and thought of, even if we weren’t together.

P.S. Looking for Valentine’s Day goodies for friends? Here are a few I’ve made in the past: crepe paper chocolate, felt fortune cookies, clever cards, and wrapped chocolate.

Photos of Bucky in full finery were requested — I aim to please.

Hello, friends! Some of you may know that John and I are BIG fans of Adam Hamilton. We worship online with Church of the Resurrection every Sunday in addition to our local church, and we never cease to learn from and be inspired by his messages. Last year, I was moved to post 25 acts of kindness after listening to one of his sermons. (Here’s the list — we’ll be doing some of these this year, and I still think it’s a GREAT way to shine a light outward this season!)

Last year, COR’s Christmas season campaign encouraged members to give a Christmas Eve offering equal to the amount they spent on Christmas gifts. John and I were inspired by the boldness of this challenge, and ended up making a larger-than-anticipated offering ourselves. (Most churches give away their Christmas Eve offering to a particular cause — for example, COR splits theirs between building wells in Africa and working with low-income schools in Kansas City, and our church gives it to one of our main missions, Zoe.) We eagerly awaited the results of COR’s offering, knowing it was going to be exciting, but we were still blown away when they reported raising $1.2 million in one night — far surpassing the previous year’s amount of $650k. I actually cried when they announced it, I was so moved. Isn’t it amazing what God’s people can do when they lean into what He is calling them to?

We immediately set the goal of giving away as much as we spent on Christmas gifts in 2013 (in addition to our normal pledge). There are so many ways to be generous, selfless, and un-materialistic at Christmas, but there are a few reasons why I particularly love this way:

1) It infuses the spirit of Christmas back into our giving, and gifting. This way, they’re not two separate things — they’re interconnected. As we shop and plan, we keep in mind that we have three ways to meet our goal: we can either a) reduce the amount we spend on gifts, b) increase the amount we give, or c) do a little of both. It reminds us that there are trade-offs for every choice we make with our money.

2) It doesn’t require us to stop giving gifts. I LOVE giving gifts! I love selecting things the people I love will love, something that will make their lives a little happier or prettier or easier. I love supporting small businesses, and making handmade goodies, and I also LOVE wrapping presents.

3. It allows us to tell a new story. Signing on for this might require you to make some changes in the way you’ve traditionally given gifts — I know it did for us — which provides an opportunity to explain why you’re making said changes. We’re planning to include a little card with our gifts that says something along the lines of, “This is only half of your present! We also made a donation in your honor to help empower kids in Africa.” What story are you telling with your life? I want my story to be about generosity. I want it to spread light in the world. I want it to be about something much larger than ME.

4) It’s legitimately exciting! For me, it was an almost giddy feeling to drop that check in the offering plate on Christmas Eve. There’s something exciting about being “counter-cultural” and saying YES to what matters most in a tangible way. I believe God’s messengers are everywhere, in everyone… in you and in me. He’s just waiting for us to step into our role, and there’s nothing more exciting than making a small move in that direction.

And then there’s this:

Christmas starts with the poor and the nobodies. I think part of the reason God sent the angels to the shepherds first is because they didn’t have anything to celebrate. Let’s start with them. Let’s invite them to Christmas. We can celebrate every day if we want, and we have lots of reasons to celebrate. But to celebrate Christmas the way God celebrates it, we must start with the poor and the nobodies.

(That’s from Adam. See why we like him?)

In what ways are you planning to make light shine in the darkness for someone else this season? Would you consider joining in this challenge? Whether or not you think you can do it this year, I would love to hear your thoughts!

P.S. It turns out that after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, today has been termed Giving Tuesday. Appropriate, no?

Ever since I was introduced to The Birthday Party Project at Engage 12, I’ve been captivated by their mission: to celebrate the lives of homeless children and youth by partnering with homeless shelters to provide birthday parties and gifts for all resident children between the ages of one and eighteen.

The Birthday Party Project from WhenItClicks Wedding Films on Vimeo.

Watch the video, it’s really good.

There are so many amazing things about what Paige has done, but I think what is most inspiring to me is that she found a way to use the skill set she already had — she’s a wedding planner — for a greater good. There are a lot of noble charities and organizations to consider lending your time to, but if you find (or create) one that fulfills your passion while also doing good, it will be better for everyone involved. Sure I could volunteer as a high school math tutor, but I’m pretty sure no one would benefit from that.

I’m still looking for my perfect fit, but in the meantime, I’m planning to #sharemybirthday this year. John and I are headed to Target and the party store this weekend, and we’re going to pack up a box of goodies to send to Texas based on The Birthday Party Project’s wishlist. If you feel inclined to celebrate my 26th birthday, I welcome you to join me! :) And if you live in North Texas and want to help out in person, you can find all of the details for volunteering right here.

Hello, friends! Something different for you today.

We worship online with Church of the Resurrection every Sunday in addition to attending our local church. Both pastors are fantastic, but I particularly felt moved by Adam Hamilton’s message this past Sunday. It was about very specific ways we can prepare for the season of Advent, and I would highly encourage you to listen to it when you have a spare half hour! Click here to do so.

Well, John and I felt even more moved to shine a light outwards this season after listening, and we’ve been discussing lots of ways we might do that ever since. I wanted to share one approach with you. I’ve been brainstorming and collecting ideas over the past few weeks for it (like from this awesome Pinterest star!), and now that I have my favorites, I’m excited to unleash them on my community! :)

I wanted to share them with you here, in the hopes that you, too, might be moved to shine your light outward this season. To treat others as better than yourself. To love others as HE does. To focus outward on the joy of giving and the things we are able to do for others, rather than inward on ourselves. We ARE blessed to be a blessing, and if we are open to the possibilities all around us for blessing others, I think we will find that we are blessed beyond measure. There is great JOY in giving!!

SO here they are! My favorite 25 ideas for showing love and kindness to the people around me this Christmas. There seem to be a lot of resources floating around for those with kids (I think Courtney’s are particularly great!), but since it’s just John and I, and I don’t think a lot of y’all have children, I wanted to focus on acts that might be better suited to those in this stage of life!

1. Pay for the person behind you in line at the drive-through of your choice
2. Leave a present in the mailbox for your mail carrier (John wanted me to clarify that it should be left near or on top of the mailbox instead of inside it, and should be clearly marked, so as to avoid mail tampering concerns…)
3. Bake and deliver goodies to someone who would appreciate the pick me up (suggestions: firemen, police officers, garbarge collectors, apartment complex office workers, those guys at the oil change place who are really nice). Doesn’t have to be fancy – boxed brownies with added chocolate chips are delicious!!
4. Donate food to a food pantry (our church collects and delivers food every week, so we’ll be taking extra this month!)
5. Keep a stash of candy canes with notes tied on in your purse, and hand them out to anyone you see who might need a little treat — cashiers, deli workers, taxi drivers…
6. Leave quarters and a note at a laundromat
7. Leave a note and the correct amount of change on a vending machine
8. Ask the librarians if you can pay someone else’s past due fee.
9. Feed parking meters (unclear whether this is technically illegal or not…)
10. Buy a gift card for groceries then turn around and hand it to the next person in line
11. Leave an extra big tip at a restaurant
12. Pick up the bill for someone else at a restaurant
13. Keep a stash of granola bars and water bottles in your car and hand them out to the homeless at stop lights.
14. Leave an encouraging message in sidewalk chalk on a neighbor’s driveway*
15. Figure out something tiny, nice, and unexpected to do for your coworkers
16. Bake something for your significant other to share with his/her coworkers
17. Buy a toy for Toys for Tots or a similar program
18. Leave a comment on every blog you frequent this month. Trust me, it will make their day, especially the smaller ones :) *
19. If you live in a cold climate, scrape ice off your neighbor’s windshield in the morning*
20. Clean out your closet and donate gently-used items to appropriate organizations*
21. Collect all of the travel-size toiletries you have lying around and deliver them to a homeless/battered women’s shelter. I hear the travel-size is perfect because the people they serve are often on the move. Call to check before you go.*
22. Bring Christmas flowers (like a poinsettia!) to a nursing home and ask the front desk staff which resident would most appreciate them. Call to check before you go.
23. Volunteer to babysit for a particularly sleep-deprived friend or relative*
24. Do a chore for someone else in your household*
25. Bring a meal to a new family or someone you know who could use an extra lift.
(And a bonus) 26. Be open to the needs and opportunities that present themselves to you. Choose to leave room in your schedule and budget to seize those opportunities, and, if you’re kind of timid like me, pray for the courage to do so! :)

The asterisks mark free activities! Many more I’ve listed are super cheap. This is not about busting the budget, it’s about showing radical love to others. (Though I DO support the idea of consciously making the decision to spend extra on things like this as opposed to fulfilling another want of our own!)

I am excited to get to giving, and will surely report back closer to Christmas! If you would like to join me, I think that would be just marvelous!! Maybe I’ll even share some of your photos (if you take them?) in my wrap-up post. Feel free to email them to me or post them to the EFM Facebook page if you feel so inclined!

Be blessed this season, friends!