This week is the beginning of December, so I think we can finally start enjoying the holiday season. I'm a firm believer that the Christmas tree doesn't go up until the weekend after Thanksgiving. Not that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but I still think it should have it's fair share of time and, let's be honest, a few more days of pumpkin-smelling things before we dive into peppermint-flavored EVERYTHING is good, too.
As a child we had many Christmas traditions that we're always very important. One of the most generous traditions was from the church I grew up in had a thing called “The Giving Tree.” The tree would appear around the holiday season and it would have tags on it instead of ornaments. Each “ornament” would say the age and gender of a child and a few things that they might want for Christmas. Every year my sister and I would pick an ornament with a child around our age and we couldn't wait to pick out a gift for that child in need. Giving Tree Sunday was always one of my favorite Sundays of the year, right up there with Palm Sunday when we kids waved Palm leaves sing Hosanna down the ridiculously long aisle of our church. On giving Tree Sunday, everyone that was giving to the cause had the opportunity to walk them up to the altar and stack them for the children they would go to. As a child I was always so excited to give our gifts. It was a great lesson for a child to remember to give in the holiday season.
I was so excited when I realized that our church here in West Lafayette had a program kind of like my beloved childhood Giving Tree. Our church's Christmas giving project is called Jubilee Christmas, and it's pretty nicely done. Similar to the giving tree, Jubilee Christmas has a tree in our greeting area that people get to take an ornament with a child's age and gender, but no gift suggestions are on it. My hubby and I have followed in the tradition of letting our children pick a ornament with their age and gender as well. The thing that makes Jubilee Christmas different is that the parents of these children get to come to our church and “shop” for a gift for their child, because the gifts haven't been picked for certain children. The families also receive knit hats and afghans, along with books and many other things.
The quilt that I made this year for Jubilee Christmas is a Grinch themed quilt (and of course we also had the kids pick out toys as well). All the fabric from this quilt had been donated to the church's quilting group. This weekend is Jubilee Christmas at the church and I really hope all the parents find everything that they really wanted to get their children. I also hope all of those children have a very Merry Christmas!
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