We have a lot of birthdays at the Goodwin Household.
Actually, only four, but they do come once a year, so we're looking at quite a few birthday parties.
And each birthday party comes with the obligatory gifts from all the friends and family of the birthday recipient. Including lots of cake.
While Canaan and Shiloh would love to have birthday presents and eat their cake too, we decided to go a different route.
Each year, we give up our birthdays.
At first glance, it may seem like we're the type of parents that don't let their kids watch that one Disney Movie where if you watch it in slow motion something PG-13 happens or we boycott Cabbage Patch Dolls because of some political stance that happened back in the 80's. Or those parents that tell their kids watermelon is actually a dessert and aren't you lucky to eat as much of it as you want.
We do let our kids eat cupcakes. Especially to celebrate our favorite people.
And we do have Cabbage Patch Kids.
We just feel like there's more to life than stuff.
Could a birthday party just be a celebration of life?
And while we're at it, bring a pool toy to donate to our local kids-at-risk home, the TurnAround Kids.
A lollipop, two cupcakes, the jumpy thing in the lake, and all your friends are better than getting eight more Barbies.
Okay, maybe a few presents since they've been desperate to have a Rapunzel dress and a new teapot.
But what if every friend brought a gift for our kids? That's a lot of stuff.
Sure, kids love stuff. I love stuff. Everybody loves stuff.
But what if we could put all our stuff together to make a BIG difference in someones life? When all that stuff is finally released (from our hands/wallets/closets/pinata) it could make a life-changing impact.
And what if your friends and family saw the impact that has? What if THEY started doing it too??
A ripple made by a little girl is just as powerful as a ripple made by us grown-ups.
Ripples made by two little girls are even better.
Because their ripple has changed the lives of these kids.
Of Kelsey and Sedrick and Yasmeen and Cibias and Quentin and Caden and Antoinette...
We'd like to leave an impression on our kids to "do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share" (1 Timothy 6:18)
And giving away our birthdays is a great first step.
We encourage your family to give and serve--to be rich in good deeds. The TurnAround Kids is a local home for kids and can be found at http://turnaroundkids.com/ . Watermarke and all the North Point campuses have launch an awesome campaign to partner with local organizations to give and serve. Check that out at http://www.howtoberich.org/
Whatever you do, do it big.
