12 Ways of Giving! Adopt A Family Round 3!

So I love doing this every year... I find 12 random acts of kindness to do, big or small, leading up to Christmas. 

In the last few years I've done the Adopt a Family through the Boys and Girls Club, I donated some groceries to my church's food pantry, I wrote a letter to a soldier, and one of my favorites, I made cookies for my friends and neighbors.

The special thing about the cookies that year is that my neighbor had colon cancer and he was moved to hospice shortly after Christmas, and I dropped some off for a lady who didn't have a lot of visitors who was really excited to get some treats.  It just made me feel special that I might have brought some joy to people who are struggling. 

Okay, if I keep talking about it, I'm gonna cry...  haha. 

So this year I am pulling together some of my old ideas and adding a few more.  I've gotten some new opportunities and I feel like my attitude towards the holidays has shifted.  It's now more about finding opportunities to bring cheer and blessings to other people, as opposed to waiting for the holiday cheer to find me.  And come to think of it, the "feeling" of the season has found a way to find me.

This year I got a head start at begging my friends and family for help with my Adopt a Family, and WOW, it paid off!  I got a bunch of cash and some awesome gifts from friends and family and this family is going to be decked out.  I even tried to bring it to the Boys and Girls Club a week early on accident... Typical Link fashion.

Thanks to my Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Linda, BFF Danielle, Cutest Boyfriend Ever Arnold and Sue!  And a special shout out to Fisher Nuts for giving me $100 for being a top 10 finalist in their contest... the money came just in time to buy the family a $100 Dahl's gift card! 

Something else worth noting, I always have a twinge of stress wondering how I'm going to pay for gifts for my family and friends if I'm spending so much on my 12 Days of Giving... But the other day something surprised me and let me know I'm doing the right thing. 

It was Cyber Monday, and I had purchased $59 worth of supplies online to make some fun homemade gifts for my friends and family... I figured I had done a pretty good job and could squeeze 3-4 gifts out of that.  I got home and had one piece of mail... a $61 check from an old retirement plan mix-up at my old job.  Almost exactly what I had spent.  God isn't going to let me stress about loving on people... I know I'm doing His work!

Anyhoo, all these great gifts are going to the Boys and Girls Club this week!  The kiddos get to wrap them up and give them to the family.  Hopefully this family got everything they needed and some special things to make this the best Christmas yet!!  (Not showing: scarves, gloves, nail polish and a grocery gift card.)