advent conspiracy

saw this video.



think it's great!

i've already bought my family Christmas presents this year, and i know they're all doing that too. i'm not about to throw a wrench in our plans this year, ESPECIALLY since my sister laura came up with the amazing idea to surprise my dad with a NEW TV! he has no idea. my parents' tv is really old. like, really old. as in, my grandparents gave it to us when THEY got a new tv. the picture is shrinking a little, and when you change the channel...the numbers are reversed on the screen. and some other problems. laura pointed out that our parents do a lot for us, so SURPRISE! my mom is in on it, because we needed some help with logistics. i can't wait to unveil it. i'll try to get that on video, but not if it interferes with me enjoying the moment.

i bring that up to say...i don't think that giving gifts to your family is a selfish thing to do. that's the only thing i sometimes don't enjoy about people encouraging us to be more generous to charity or whatever. i get a lot of joy from giving my family gifts at Christmas.

BUT

we are so blessed, and there's also a lot of joy to be found in giving all of that to people who are really hurting. instead of to each other.

we're all older now, so now (see: next year) might be a good time to say "instead of buying for each other, let's find ways to give other people gifts. angel trees. buying NEW gifts to donate to missions. etc." and maybe do a secret santa thing, so we each just have one person to buy a gift for...i don't know....there are so many different ways to be generous. (what a position to be in...)

with the exception of my niece, kailey! because we LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE kailey. and i think we're all more excited to give her things than anything else. because she's so awesome. when i went to visit my sister emily at baylor, we stopped by to see kailey for half an hour. i bought her a stuffed lion. for no reason at all. just because she's so neat.

anyway...

it's interesting how at the hardest part of my life (see: RIGHT NOW), i want to be involved with things that matter. every good thought i have comes from God. left alone, i think only of myself. how amazing that my wicked soul could find 10 seconds to think of anyone else.