Several years ago, our family decided to stop gifting to adults for Christmas and Hanukkah. We have been truly blessed with our needs being met. Our family is large and the holiday shopping was becoming a source of stress for some of us, with some family members exceeding their budgets, going in to debt to provide gifts. I am not a supporter of living beyond one's means, and proposed we only gift to the children - and ONLY if we could afford it! It was a tough transition for the first couple of years, and some family members broke the agreement, but now we're all on the same page.

My husband and I decided to support the school's Adopt-A-Family program, and it turned out to be of multifaceted benefit. Not only were we able to support families less fortunate than ourselves and take time to enjoy the Season, we made it an educational experience for our youngest. We established a budget, took the families' lists, and went shopping. Although I had always avoided Black Friday like the plague, we decided it was an opportunity to turn THAT in to a positive, too. We'd scan the Wednesday ads, finding items on our families' lists and stretching our dollar that much further. Our youngest was the keeper of the budget, keeping the running tally on our purchases, making sure we did not exceed our budget. I still detest many of the concepts behind Black Friday, but managed to find neutral ground with it.

When we moved to Southern Oregon, we found out our local school did not have the Adopt-A-Family program. I decided to try to take that project on as part of my giving back to the community, but ran in to resistance with the idea. Apparently, the program had been raised in the past, but fizzled for a multitude of reasons. Not being one to beat a dead horse, I looked around for another option. With all the need out there, I was amazed I had to WORK to find an alternate. We discovered a need at Community Works with the battered women and children's program and Dunn House. They hold an annual party for the families in their program and put out a Wish List we could take shopping with us, keeping with our budgeted shopping tradition.

This year, we're going to go Global. Mercy Corps is an organization we support who has accomplished amazing things in Our World with a fraction of the cost many other non-profits incur. This weekend, in front of a warm fire with some coffee/green tea/hot cocoa (we are a family of varied tastes) in hand, we'll peruse the 2008 Mercy Kit Catalog and see where our hearts lay.

What do you do to bring the Spirit in to your home, to give back during the holidays?

May the Spirit of the Season bless you all!

Karen Cooper - OR/CA Mortgage Consultant - www.Quality4Loans.com