Camp Happy Family Christmas Challenge!

The other day, I was standing in the middle of my yard letting Sierra run around and the wind started to blow. There was a chill in the air and when I looked up I saw leaves from the pecan trees in my yard fall all around me. Fall is here...FINALLY! With the appearance of Fall, I begin to think about little ones in costumes toting pumpkin bags and knocking on doors in search of a trick or a treat! Then my mind wanders to the yummy smells that will soon fill our kitchens on Thanksgiving Day and how I can't wait to have some of Dad's grilled turkey and watch Texas, USC and most importantly Auburn play their rivals with the ones I love (War Eagle!).

And then, there's Christmas. Oh Christmas! Soon we'll all be together celebrating another year of health, blessings, good fortune and most importantly the birth of our Lord who is responsible for it all. One of my favorite Christmas memories is when everyone is crowded around the tree handing out the gifts we have bought one another. I am grateful for the expressions on our faces while we watch the gifts that we've bought being opened because I think that our family truly finds joy in giving to one another. How lucky are we?

This Christmas, I want to issue our family a challenge...call it the Camp Happy Family Christmas Challenge. I want to change the way I think about giving this year and I hope you'll join me. What if instead of spending our usual amounts on each other, we scaled back a bit and put some money towards a good cause? The Children's Hospital of Greenville Hospital System started a Virtual Toy Drive a few years ago. Doctors, nurses and other hospital employees send in requests for supplies, toys, and medical devices...basically anything that is needed to treat children who are sick or injured. When you go to the Virtual Toy Drive website, you'll see all of the requested items and you can choose an item (or items!) to donate by clicking on the picture of the item. At that point, the Children's Hospital will be notified that you have paid for a particular item and those doctors and nurses can retrieve it when they need it and be assured that the items donated are clean and safe to use.

When you click on the link below, you can explore all the different items that can be bought through the Virtual Toy Drive. Items range from story books and toys to therapy dolls, vein viewing machines and even scholarships to Camp Courage (a summer camp for children with illnesses that prevent them from going to a normal summer camp with other children).

Things are tight this year...believe me, I feel it too. If you just can't fit gifts along with a donation into the budget this year, I understand. If that's the case and you find yourself wondering what to give me for Christmas, I'd like to ask you to give a donation to the Virtual Toy Drive as my gift.

Let's set a goal to try to reach $250 as a family by Christmas! And when we gather around the tree to open gifts this year, maybe we can take some time to go around and share a little about the item that we donated!

http://www.virtualtoydrive.org/home.php?sponsor=175

(I've also added a banner at the bottom of this blog that will take you directly to our toy drive when you click on it!)

Much love to you all! Can't wait to see everyone soon!

Megan

Happy Birthday Granny!

As I write this post, I'm watching the news at all the election results pile in. I always think that Election day is so exciting. People seem to walk with a spring in their step as they leave their polling sites--at least they do where I vote! And the reality is never lost on me that the person in the booth next to me could be casting a vote that completely counteracts my own. I remember sitting in front of the TV two years ago with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat when Obama was declared as President. While I know I had a similar reaction to the last major election as a lot of people in this country (as is evident by the results so far tonight), I was impacted by the teaching at church this past Sunday. The pastor spoke about how as Americans we need to exercise our right to vote because we need to be good citizens. However, we need to be careful with who we place our identity. Don't be mistaken in thinking that he was referring to a particular candidate or party. Where do we place our identity? Do we identify more with a political party that we do with Christ? Tomorrow morning, will we wake up devastated or elated by the results that roll in overnight? Do we think about what party we are more aligned with and how our lives will be impacted by each election than we do about pursuing a life with Christ and being the person He created us to be? Please hear me when I say that I don't think there's anything wrong with taking sides, having an opinion or being involved in the political process. In fact, I'm of the opinion that it would be wrong to NOT be involved. But as I sat in church on Sunday listening to the teaching, I thought back to 2 years ago when I sat in my living room with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat and thought, 'What have we done and what will happen to us now?' In a way I was devastated. But why? Was it really that surprising? We are all human and we are flawed. We will make mistakes...costly ones. We will choose the wrong person to lead. We will trust in someone so much that we will be devastated when they don't fulfill our expectations or when others don't appreciate them as much as we do. Why are we devastated though? They are human just like we are. Our leaders will let us down because they are human just like you and me. There is one leader, however, that we can always trust and who will never let us down because His agenda is far bigger than anything we can fathom. Try as we may, we can't fit His agenda to our earthly, political agendas. His is far greater than ours. We are better off trying to fit our agenda to His so that the Holy Spirit will guide us and help us live a life that imitates His. And then, imagine how enlightened we will all be on Election Day knowing that the decisions we are making are ordained by Christ.

I'm sure you all received Dad's email about Granny's birthday today. I'm ashamed to say that I almost made it through the day without remembering that this was a special day. Thank you Dad for reminding me to stop and think about my sweet Granny who I miss more than I realize sometimes. What a wonderful God we have who will send us little signs here and there that our Granny is okay and smiling down on us.

I tried to post the copy of the song "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" but I'm still trying to learn how to use my new Mac! I've only had it for a few hours! I did find a different version of it and added it to the playlist so you should be hearing it as you read this post. I hope you enjoy it! I think Granny would. :)