I don’t know about you, but buying Christmas gifts for all the adults in my life sometimes feels tedious. Not because I don’t love to shop for gifts, or because I don’t want to bless my loved ones. But because it seems like everyone has what they need. The majority of people on our shopping list are having success in life and so to come up with gift ideas that are beyond what they could just buy for themselves any day of the week, feels overwhelming sometimes. While we are still giving traditional gifts to those on our list, we’ve come up with another idea to add to each gift, and I thought I’d share it with you as well.
I’m sure everyone reading this already knows we are adopting a child from China. A quick update on that. We received approval from the USA government to bring an immigrant here, which is AWESOME! We also completed our dossier. (That is the 3-inch stack of documents we’ve been accumulating.) Every piece of paper has been sent to our adoption agency in Oregon, and next Friday, they will be mailing it to China. Once in China, we will be logged into the system and waiting to be matched with a child. It is HUGE to be done with this step so soon. We are very excited and can sit back and try to relax for a few months until we get that match with a little girl!
Our adoption agency, Holt International, is one of the most ethical agencies out there. They’ve been in business for decades and they do much more than just help people adopt. They take an extremely active role in each country where they work. They believe that most children belong with their parents, if at all possible, and in their birth country. So they do everything they can to support and empower young parents and children through micro-loans for small businesses, education, living necessities, etc. They also run several orphanages and children’s homes, provide medical care, etc. Which is 100% why we picked them. They’re really in it to help families, not just take children away for adoption, and we think that’s beautiful.
Which brings me to their Gifts of Hope catalogue. I was flipping through it and there are gifts for every budget and sentiment. And naturally I couldn’t help but become emotional when I read about the Christmas gifts for children in their orphanages – because our girl is probably already born and in one of their homes. I can only hope she gets a Christmas gift and special meal. Cue all the tears.
If you’re looking for a unique client gift, or something for a relative who has literally everything, then how about purchasing a gift of hope in their name? I’m linking up a few ideas below, just click on the photo. There’s also an option to receive a card for the person who’s name you’re purchasing the gift in. The list is super extensive and can be found by clicking HERE. Feel free to leave a comment. Have you ever given charitable donations as a gift? How would you feel if you received a gift like this?!