Recently, I made a list of organizations to support with a year-end donation and how much. Writing, sharing and enacting that list is one of the most fruitful things I’ve done this Advent.
If you already do something similar, I hope this blog post will remind you why. If you don’t, I hope my experience will encourage you to try it out. Here are a few ways it helped my preparations for Christmas.
Gratitude. I am more grateful for these organizations to which I give, for how they impact the world and how they inform and shape my life.
Attention. I am more attentive to the circumstances – my job and my health – that equip me with money to share.
Connection. I feel more connected to the people and communities who are part of these organizations.
Anticipation. I look forward to the year ahead and engaging more with this work beyond financial giving.
Gratitude. Attention. Connection. Anticipation. I thought I was making a charitable giving list. I didn’t expect to feel more prepared to welcome and respond to God with us, Immanuel.
This message is excerpted from “4 ways to help you prepare for Christmas” by Emma Crossen from the December 19, 2019, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate John of the Cross, renewer of the church, 1591.
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