Angel Tree and Beautiful Feet

The daycare chose two children to sponsor from the "angel tree" at church. The children were having a contest between the boys and girls to win a pizza party.  The group that brought the most money won the pizza party. Unfortunately we only raised enough money to sponsor one child.  So I decided it was a great time for my family to participate in a more hands on way-instead of just donating money. 

So last night the kids and I went shopping for both of the children. It was so difficult for me to decide what to purchase. I wanted to be practical so I was looking for toys that didn't require batteries. The girl we had wanted an easy bake oven which I really wanted to give her but I debated back and forth about the practicality of the gift. Would she be able to get more kits after she uses the ones that come with the oven?  Would she be able to use on hand ingredients to make things in the oven?  On and on and on. Then there was the issue of clothes. What kind of clothes would they like? Need? Etc, etc. Anyway after an hour and a half of shopping we had a buggy full an came in just a few dollars over budget.

After getting the kids to bed I got busy wrapping everything. These were the first gifts for me to wrap this year. We had to have them wrapped and ready for delivery by Wednesday so I wanted to make sure I got them to the church today. 

After posting about it on FB a friend told me they pick a child every year that is the same age their child would have been. They had a miscarriage several years ago, she said they never knew the gender so they pick a boy one year and the next year they pick a girl. So next year I am going to pick a girl that is the same age Hope would have been. This year she would have been 7. For those that don't know I had a miscarriage at 16 weeks in 2006. 

Also our church volunteers at Beautiful Feet in Texas. They provide services to the community and homeless in the area.  One thing they had requested was backpacks. This summer while at Walmart they had backpacks on clearance for $1. So of course I bought 20!!!  So we brought them to the church today because a group will be leaving out Thursday to Beautiful Feet. 

One great thing about AHG is their emphasis on community service. I love it because my children are so blessed and have anything they could ever need or want and I want them to realize this is not the norm.  I want them to understand that there are children that don't know when their next meal will be, or that don't have new clothes, or that can't go to Walmart when the milk runs out. I want them to have compassion for others and want to help others.  A serving  heart is what I hope to instill in my children.