Holiday Season

James and I met the crowds head on today as we finished up our Christmas shopping. It has not felt like the same ol' Christmas season to me this year. Normally I love going out dealing with all the people finding the great deals and doing all the other things associated with getting ready for Christmas. This year I find myself wanting to be around family so much. I don't get to see my family but 2 maybe 3 times a year and that does not include my brother. I only see my brother once a year. For my family we have gone to drawing names to give presents away instead of giving gifts to everyone. I think this has given my family more time to actually spend Christmas together doing what we should be doing on Christmas and during the holiday......spending time with each other. I remember Christmas used to be all about what I got for Christmas. Now all I want is some good time with my family being thankful for them.
This year it seems like more people are taking a look around and at least giving gifts that can give back. I saw a morning show that gave a listing (not a complete listing) of gift you could buy that would give back. I saw shoes (toms), reusable grocery bags (FEED), childrens laptops(one laptop per child), and a very cool website called goodshop.com. It seems as though we might be back on track with trying to help out those in need again instead of just giving to ourselves.
I am very grateful for the life and family that I was given. If we always acted this way I do think that we might could actually change the world we live in...giving to those who need, who we love, and spending as much time as we can loving those around us!