Alternative Christmas

Hey, guys. I know it's mid-November, but it's a good time to start thinking about alternative Christmas gifts. Here's some ideas!

Child's Play
A charity dedicated to bringing toys, games, books, and movies to children's hospitals in the USA and worldwide. On their website you can click on a hospital local or far away, and you're taken to Amazon to view the hospital's wish list. Giving is as easy as purchasing something on Amazon!

Heifer International
Take a look at their catalog and select an animal or animals to send to needy families. They're not giving a hand out; they're giving a hand up. Animals supply these families with food and a livelihood. A flock of chicks or ducks cost only $20.

The Sharing Network
The Sharing Network of New Jersey supports patients, donors, and families during organ transplants. There are over 4500 people waiting for a lifesaving transplant in New Jersey. Please consider The Sharing Network and your local organ donation network.

Kiva
Micro-loans that help lift people in undeveloped countries out of poverty. It's the gift that keeps giving! Your money will come back to you so you can loan it again!

Teach for America
I have some friends doing Teach for America. It's hard work trying to eliminate educational inequality.

Mercer Street Friends Food Bank
A great local food bank that focuses on giving healthy food along with health services to the underprivileged in my local community. I've volunteered with them several times, and they have a large presence in some of our K-12 schools where they literally fill up children's backpacks with food.

12th Day of Christmas

Today is the last day of Christmas. Yesterday my friend Sara Jane and I were out running some errands and getting coffee when we saw the picture to the right. The Christmas lights are still up in Princeton. It was nice to remember that Christmas-tide is continuing even though we all are getting back to our normal lives.

PTS started its January term on Monday. For three weeks students will eat, sleep, and breathe one class. I am taking a course entitled Compassionate Communication based on the Nonviolence Communication model complied by Marshall Rosenberg. We have practice groups, journals, lectures, class participation, etc. in order for us to internalize nonviolent communication into our daily lives. I took this class originally with an eye on my chaplaincy internship this summer, but I can see how this type of communication can help in my career field and just in normal every-day relationships.

Also, yesterday I gave myself an end of Christmas present. I upgraded my computer to Windows 7, and it seems to work wonderfully. I really like the new Windows layout, and I appreciate the deal Windows gave me since I'm a student.

Merry end-of-Christmas-tide!

Merry Christmas-tide!

Yes, Christmas really does last for 12 whole days! It's called Christmas-tide, and it's the basis for that song that everybody knows part of but not the whole 12 days... yes, that one!

I'm back in Colorado after several delays and detours. I ended up in St. Paul overnight, but thanks to the Mom Network [better than any cell phone company can offer] I had a place to sleep and a family to welcome me. The traditional Christmas events are in full swing. We had a clam sauce pasta dinner with some local extended family, and some last minute shopping. I participated in my home church's Christmas Eve service which was wonderful. I also attended a local church's 11pm service. Even though it felt very late, it was magical to walk out of the church after midnight knowing it was truly Christmas.

Now we're in full swing of Christmas-tide joy. I head back to Princeton on the 3rd. Class starts again on the 4th, but for now I'm not thinking about that.

Alternative Christmas Gifts

If you're still wondering what to give people for Christmas, try an alternative Christmas gift. These come in all different ways.

1. Give a Kiva gift certificate. These can be in amounts between $25 and $10,000. Kiva is a wonderful organization that connects people like me who have some extra money. In April of 2008 I paid $25 to Kiva which has been recycled three times now. This $25 has been used in microloans to small business owners in Peru and then Pakistan. Today I received an e-mail saying the loan had been payed back, and I logged onto Kiva and found another small business owner I wanted to support. Once that person has payed back the money, I will get it back. It's a re-usable gift that helps small business owners across the world.
My Kiva page.

2. Find local non-profits to donate to. For example, the Rainbow Network was a group I was involved with in college. It started in Springfield as a way to help long-term development in Nicaragua. Donate in the name of someone you love.

3. Heifer International is a fun way to find alternative Christmas gifts. You can buy animals in the same of someone you love which go to people living in third world countries as a sustainable resource. For example, you can buy a llama for $150. If that's too much, buy a flock of chicks for $20; or buy a share of a larger animal.

You can impact someone's life incredibly for a very small amount. Please consider buying alternative Christmas gifts for the ones you love.