thanksGIVING 2011

This month I've been trying to focus on GIVING. I've been following the 30 Day Giving Challenge and it's been amazing to see how self-centered we can be and how easy it is to give if you put a conscience effort into it. I haven't done exactly what they have done on the site, but she does offer some interesting ideas and interesting ways to give I probably wouldn't have thought about. Dale and I are blessed to both have jobs and be able to give abundantly this year, hopefully that will continue throughout our marriage and life together.

Some of the things we've done this year include:
1. Baking pumpkin muffins for our co-workers (they were received very well!!)
2. Writing encouraging notes\emails\texts to our friends and family members
3. Buying toys for Toys for Tots (Black Friday prices definitely helped that cause!)
4. Taking a meal to a family in our church
5. Supporting local charities- financial donations as well as dropping off items
6. Collecting gifts for a friend's kids...I want to bless them as this Christmas may be a difficult one.
    **Another great way to give is Operation Christmas Child, and we were going to do that, but we decided helping a close friend is more important this year than helping a cause so many already give to...is there someone you know who may need some help this Christmas???

We are almost done our Christmas shopping and I am so excited to be able to give gifts that I think people will love and that we were able to get for good prices so that we can give more!

We are so blessed and as we reflected on the last year, there were so many InCReDibLE blessings that God gave us, even though we are so undeserving...just a few to mention are: our salvation and the relationship we have with a loving GOD, our families and the new little babies that will be coming soon, jobs, the money we have in the bank, the home we have and the beautiful wedding we were blessed with just a few months ago...God is SOOO good and I am so thankful that I am 1 of His precious children that He knows by name and that He knew about before creation! How can we not GIVE!?!?!