Getting in the Christmas Spirit

We've been trying hard to teach our kids, particularly Tyler and Jacob, about the true meaning of Christmas and the spirit of charity. For Family Home Evening last week each boy picked a name off the "angel tree" and let them pick out the gift for the child in need they chose. But Eric and I felt like we wanted to do more.

So, we found out about some families in need and talked to the boys about them. We talked about how blessed we are and how Heavenly Father wants us to use our blessings to help others. We told the boys that if they wanted to help these families, they could go get some of their own money to donate to them, as much or as little as they wanted. Both boys, especially Tyler, have been learning the value of money. We let them earn money in different ways, they save it up, then they get to go buy a toy at the store. Tyler is really starting to understand the value of a dollar. So imagine the pride and tears in our eyes when both our boys ran upstairs, emptied out their little piggy banks into the envelopes we gave them and handed them to me and Eric. Jacob had almost $10 he has been saving for so long, and Tyler gave all his money as well. We talked about how there were 9 families in need, and Tyler lined up 9 envelopes, one for each family, and divided up his money--one dollar in each, one quarter, one dime, one nickel and one penny. It was just about everything he had, but he wanted to make sure each family got something.

I was so impressed with my boys--I know they are young and probably don't understand exactly what they were doing, but they knew they were giving up something they wanted to help someone else. I am so proud of them and hope this season I can be just as quick to give.