T-minus 3 days till Black Friday...the biggest shopping day of the year and the unofficial kick-off to the Holiday Season. This is also the season of catalogs. I have counted no less than 100 catalogs already delivered to our house. I'm sure you all are swamped with them too.  It's easy to quickly run through the stacks day after day and throw the majority of them right into the recycle bin...we are recycling, right? And then there are those that we wait for, dog-ear and order on-line. Personally, my favorite way to shop, from the comfort of my living room chair sometimes even in my pajamas, no crowds, no lines, no fuss. All done.

One catalog caught my eye this year, as it is one we wait for, but the title was interesting to me...'The Most Important Gift Catalog in the World'. The catalog is from Heifer International.  Each year the kids and I sit down and shop through this catalog picking out animals to send around the world.  If you are not familiar, Heifer International has been around for 65 years and gives families in need around the world a hand-up through gifts of livestock and training.  There are heifers that give milk...chickens that produce eggs...sheep that provide wool...and much more.  The animals are considered living loans because in exchange for receiving their animal and training, each family agrees to give one of it's animals offspring to another family in need. So, each gift actually multiplies many times with every new generation. www.heifer.org/catalog

Of course Heifer International is not the only catalog of it's kind...World Vision www.worldvisiongifts.org also provides gifts of animals and training.  Added to that gifts of sewing machines, fruit trees and seeds, emergency food and therapeutic foods and so much more. World Vision is the leading distributor of food for the World Food Programme. You can even give a Ger to a family in Mongolia, my 11 year old knew what that was!

And, Samaritan's Purse, the sponsors of Operation Christmas Child, also has a gift catalog, 'gifts that can bring the love of Christ to a hurting world'. www.samaritanspurse.org Samaritan's Purse offers sports gear for children, clothing, housing, schools, hospitals (yes, you can buy a hospital), food, blankets & bedding, animals and so much more.

For only a few dollars, a gift through one of these catalogs can make a life changing difference in a family's life. Many companies will even match your donation dollar for dollar. 

It is an amazing way to make a difference this holiday season. An amazing way to share the Gospel and tell the lost that forgiveness and eternal life are found only in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

May the Lord richly bless you, your family and those all around the world in this special season. Merry Christmas!