.It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.

Or not....

but this is for you organized types, which I exclaim loudly, I am not, don't put me in that camp! (there I feel better now), many of you are already thinking about, and even shopping for, Christmas. So I wanted to throw this challenge out to you! For the past two years Jim and I took the challenge to only spend money on Christmas gifts for friends and family that funded causes that combat social injustice- this included many of our gifts for our children.

God continues to open our eyes to the needs around us and around the world. It is so, so easy to feel defeated in this. The need is so, so GREAT. However, this was something relatively simple for us to do as a family, and we pray it made a small difference for God's glory. It was also a nice way to spread awareness about social injustice issues. Most of the gifts we purchased came with a little card that described the ministry, and what the funds from the gift went toward.

So my challenge for you, if you choose to take it, is to choose at least one person on your gift list, and buy them a gift where the money for that gift funds a cause to combat social injustice. You can take it as far as you want and purchase all gifts this way, or just buy one gift. I believe that even one gift can bring God glory and make a difference in another human being's life.

My sweet friend, Bethany  and I have created a pinboard on Pinterest that is dedicated to websites selling items that fit in the above categories. We've done all of the leg work for you, as we have spent several hours pulling sites together. All you have to do is go to our board, browse and shop. Bethany and I do not benefit from this in any way. We just wanted to have a way to encourage other believers to live out Micah 6:8 in a practical way, and we wanted another way to speak up for those without a voice.

To start shopping, simply go to our pinboard here.

And please, please share this on your blog, on facebook, with friends and family. You do not even need to link to us or credit us in anyway. I do not care if you take this blog post as your own, or copy all of our pins onto your own board. I just want to challenge us all to shop with a purpose this Christmas and to make a difference by sharing the love of Jesus Christ for the glory of God.

(source)

Happy shopping friends....

and Merry Christmas!

PS Please leave links here to any sites I may have missed. We will continue to add to our collection! If you are an adopting family raising funds via a fundraiser we would love to add you as well!