Tis the Season....and maybe you've never entertained the possibility of purchasing goats, pigs, camels or chickens as Christmas presents. Sure, they may be a tad bit hard to wrap. But you just can't go wrong by giving a good goat to a family in a 3rd world country, knowing they will now be self-sustaining for years to come.
I'm not a big fan of Christmas. Don't worry though, my teenagers are and that makes up for my disinterest by leaps and bounds.
Maybe I shouldn't say Christmas. Maybe, I should say, I don't care for all the excess I see in the form of decorations, the umteen toys and gadgets, novelty gifts, etc.,etc.,. Santa's list never ends.
Now the way we make time for togetherness and good will...That's what I like about Christmas!
So, here's my question to you? Can you even remember what you got last Christmas and what you gave? There's probably one or two gifts you can recall that were somehow distinct and special. And while you're at it, ask your children if they remember what they got last Christmas.
So hopefully this Christmas you give what's special(No, the Xbox is not special) and receive that gift you will cherish and remember forever.
The family you purchase livestock for, will remember, without hesitation, their Christmas gift on a daily basis as they get milk, cheese, eggs, wool, etc.,etc., You can even purchase clean drinking water (doesn't that sound sad?) bees, llamas, cows. The giving list is never ending.
So, if you're looking for that perfect gift for someone who has everything--
Give em a goat!( Actually the goat goes to 3rd world family, but they can get pics and updates)
Here's the sites for where you go when you need a good goat. I think they even come with a warranty, just hold on to your receipt. :)
Goats R Us
*Buy 1 Bee Get One Free (*no coupons needed)
PIG-MART
Livestock Emporium ("THE" original company that started this concept)
8 comments:
I could not agree more.
You can give these gifts through Christian Aid. They send goats, chickens, stethoscopes, drinking water, etc. to people as Christmas gifts, and I think it's great. Last year I got a couple of chickens and I gave a few people cans of worms. Seriously.
We've been downsizing Christmas every year and creating our own traditions. One we have had since our kids were tiny was making them write their thank you cards while opening their presents. One gift opened means one letter written. This might sound cruel, but it is not. It has slowed down the whole receiving process and made us all a lot more conscious of the giver than of the gift. I heartily recommend this to anyone who is getting sick of all the hype and materialistic crap that makes Christmas more of a greed fest than a celebration of unselfish love.
Oh Thanks! I'll add the Christian Aid link.
That's a great idea about the thank you notes too. I don't think that's cruel at all. That's also a good word for what Christmas has become a "greedfest"
It even sounds right...
Merry Greedfest!
My husband coined 'Greedfest' when our eldest was about four, just watching her rip open presents. It was rather sickening. We both hated all the hype and saw that it would only get worse with every passing year if we didn't do something.
I don't really think what we do is cruel, either, but many people have looked shocked and upset when we've told them about this custom. When we left Japan and moved to Scotland, we didn't do it one year. The next year, to our amazement, our kids actually asked if they could do the thank-you note thing again. Gluttons for punishment, maybe, but we felt we'd succeeded in making this custom part of our holiday routine.
And boy, do we feel smug when we go off to the post office with that stack of thank-you cards.
I am so looking into this...right now.
World Vision is another organization that sends out not only animals, but school supplies, musical instruments, clothing, aid with health care...lots of stuff.
Hi Bish!
Yeah, I know about World Vision. I was trying to be cute and put them under the heading of "Goats R Us" And you're right they supply alot more than just goats. thanks for stopping by:)
The church I used to go to did this type of thing every year with part of the christmas-eve offering.... But the church always encouraged the sunday-schoolers to save up money and loose change throughout the year and donate it in plastic easter eggs. Their incentive was that our reverend would kiss the cow that the church had bought if the tikes had donated enough money. Of course, several years there was not enough money, but the church would buy the cows anyways, and the reverend would kiss them. Gross,
As for the commercialization and rape of Christmas ("Greedfest")... I have no comment, because no comment is needed. I do want to say however, that I think Mary has a very very cool tradition, and I somewhat wish that I had been made to do something like that every year. I was required to write thank-you notes of course, but always a week after Christmas... and by then it was simply drudgery. Had I written the notes as I opened gifts, I likely would have appreciated the action of giving more than I did.
I wish I had made you guys do that too;)
Simple drudgery, good word choice.
<3 xoxo
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