Christmas Memories - Part 3

Over the past 2 days, we've shared a story from a family who chose to give a family gift to Forgotten Voices this year, passing on their typical gift exchange. Now that Christmas has passed, they are sharing what this experience meant to their family and how it changed their views on giving. This is the third and final part of their story. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 by clicking on the link.

Thanks! Enjoy!

-Ryan
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Family Christmas Gift: Part 3

Giving money designated for 'gifts to family', to those who have next to nothing in the way of material things, helped to put the Christmas season in perspective. Instead of focusing on buying yet another possession for someone, I was reminded that we all have so much more than we need. Christ came and saw those who were overlooked by others, and I appreciated the opportunity to do the same!

It took so much of the pressure and commercialization out of Christmas. Having spent my last couple of Christmases in a place that in many ways was void of the materialism of Christmas it was nice to redirect my Christmas here. Forgotten Voices has been dear to my heart for a while so I was excited to be able to, as a family, impact children's lives. The pressure felt like it was gone. Christmas day no longer was about the gifts but about the fellowship of family. We also knew that we were taking action in a small part to 'feed the orphans and the widows.' To have practical action and a significant change to Christmas really made me realize the impact of Christmas in a whole new way. It was also neat to work together as a family for a greater purpose. We were so excited because no one knew what the total would come to. I know that for me, I was surprised at how much money was given and in turn thankful that we could impact so many lives with it. I hope that we continue to do it for years to come. In fact, as one day I hope to start a family, I would like to do this as a new family.

Thank you for reading these thoughts. I pray that you will think about ways that are outside of the box that you can impact your world with Christ's love. There are many ways to impact all corners in the world. Just one of them being the family Christmas gift.

Sincerely,
Our Family