day of silence

text the word "Quake" or "Japan" to 80888 to make a $10 gift for disaster relief and response in Japan through The Salvation Army World Services Office.
The Salvation Army in Japan is responding to the earthquake and tsunami that brought devastation to the north of the country. Joshua Smith from has designed a shirt to help raise funding and awareness for those affected by the disaster. The Japanese Kanji on the shirt translates to "Save World Army"

100% of the proceeds of the sales of this shirt will go toward The Salvation Army's relief efforts in Japan

no freezer space? no problem!

"distribution time at the salvation army during christmas is a time of tremendous pressure and stress; there's not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that has to be done. the pressure isn't only on the officers, but the staff and the volunteers who are dedicated and committed to this whole process and to getting christmas food, goods, and toys out to families. as soon as the doors close on distribution day after a big distribution it's a complete sigh of relief and everybody is just absolutely drained. 

  {photo via veer}

one year we were at a corps where we had served just under 1000 families and we were absolutely exhausted. there were a few chickens leftover and we had packed everything in the freezer that we could, but there wasn't enough room, so we had a few chickens that we couldn't get in the freezer.  this was in a real cold climate and we had an emergency egress from the basement that had a vertical ladder that you could climb to get up to the street level. there was a little paved area right inside a door and then the ladder was there, and that was what we called the cold spot because there was a grate over the top and it was secure, but it was freezer cold all winter long. so we put the chickens out there because we knew they'd be safe and they would be totally frozen. and that worked out just fine. we were exhausted, we went home, we celebrated christmas with our families. when we went back to work we of course did all the clean up and then got back into our regular routine. 

and nobody remembered to retrieve those chickens when there was room in the freezer. 

and nobody remembered later than that. 

and nobody remembered later than that.

and in may we began to notice a *ahem* bad odor in the building. we finally traced its source to the downstairs area and then finally someone opened the door.

and we remebered those chickens."

{christmas story #3 from my mom. want more? story #1 story #2}

ding-dong ditch (christmas style)

here is the 2nd christmas story from my mom in my "christmas stories from mom" series {creatively titled, i know}

 read the first story, and a little bit about the whole thing here

 story #2

{dictated over the phone}

"a woman had picked up her things at the morning distribution, at her appointed time, and everything went the way it was supossed to, but she returned in the afternoon. she very apologetically asked if she could exchange the toys she got for one of her daughters for clothing instead. she was also apologetic because she had her 4-year-old daughter with her, and childern are not usually allowed at distributions for obvious reasons. but head start was over and she had nobody to watch her, so she had to come along. it was a bitterly cold day but the little girl only had on a see-through plastic raincoat for a coat. she had no hat or gloves, and her hands and face were bright red from the cold. the mother said that the other 2 girls had gotten clothing but she wanted to exchange the toys for clothing because they had been homeless and the other two girls had gotten some clothing and they needed that more than toys, so that's what she wanted to do. 

we agreed to do that, and while we were locating clothing of the right size, i had some other volunteers find a brand new coat, boots, hat and gloves for the little girl that was in the rain coat. so she left all bundled up and in warm new outer gear. the lady was extremely appreciative. 

after she left, i got a couple of our long-time and wonderful volunteers and we went through our toy shop, which was well supplied, and found the wishlist for all three of the girls and got them all of the toys they had asked for, and then lots more nice new clothing and just really did a christmas that they would never ever forget in their whole lives. we bagged them up in great giant bags and our volunteers took them that night to the family's house, put them on the porch, rang the doorbell and ran!"

this just puts a huge smile on my face :) and it reminds me of the importance of giving back to others this holiday season! i wish i could do more, i wish i did more, but i try my best to remember that every little thing counts and can make a difference in someone's life.

{photo via}

red kettle campaign

wet money and the sound of the change machine. 

these are two things that always come to mind for me when i think about christmas.

weird, i know.

 i've talked before about my parents' jobs as salvation army officers {here}. which makes me an officer's kid, which comes with all kinds of unusual things. and because of this, my holidays have always been full of kettle counting. you know? all the people in front of stores ringing bells with the big "sharing is caring" signs. i love helping my parents count the money. i don't know why. wet money smells bad, and it's really dirty, but for me, it's just part of the christmas spirit.

i still remember when i was a little kid, living in iowa, falling asleep every night to the sound of the change machine going in the living room. we lived in a small city, so my parents usually counted all alone {every night}, and the change machine only separated the coins then. they still had to roll them and count them. now, they live in a huge{ish} city and count money with lots of other people, and the change machine is much quieter and actually counts the money for them.

and {almost} every time i visit them i still go help count. 

i love it.

hubby hates it.

{cause he's a germaphobe. did i mention how dirty money is?}

so, besides sharing one of my christmas stories with you, i also wanted to share this:

Banner Ad for Red Kettle

my own personal online kettle!

i can't tell you how excited i am to host this on my little blog. i love the kettle campaign and every year i bring out all my change, carry it around with me and put some in every kettle i come by.

it's a wonderful charity, you can donate as little or as much as you want because every little bit helps! truly! the salvation army is a charity with one of the lowest overheads, so what you give actually goes to people in need- not paying for publicity, paying to keep the lights on, or salaries {trust me on that one}

if you're looking for an easy and meaningful way to give back this holiday season, please consider donating!

my favorite holiday

for many many years now thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday. i've often thought it was very under-appreciated, but i think that may partially be because, while i love it for all the traditional reasons, i have many of my own too.

{thanksgiving '07, sister.me.hubby}

my parents are salvation army officers {simplified, they are pastors and social workers put together} since the holidays are such a time for giving and charity you can imagine how busy my household gets. well, actually maybe not. i know the holidays are crazy for everyone, but in my house it was the most stressful time of the year {and not something we really looked forward to}. my dad dropped us off at school and came home after we went to bed so it's safe to say we saw him most on sundays when he was behind the pulpit. my parents were organizing volunteers, managing bell ringing, over-seeing christmas adoptions, angel tree gifts, food baskets, christmas parties for staff and volunteers, and much much more.

this is of course on top of traditional holiday extras such as orchestra.choir.chamber concerts and friends' holiday parties.

i lost my family during the holidays, and my sister and i usually lived off pizza rolls and frozen pot pies {which i can't complain about because i thoroughly enjoy}

so for me, thanksgiving is not just about what i'm thankful for, it's really about family. it was our family's last hurrah. our last home made meal for many weeks, or actually our last meal together for weeks. it was the weekend we actually got to enjoy the holiday spirit. the presents were all bought {there was no time for shopping after black friday} we always decorated the day after thanksgiving and if the tree didn't get up by saturday, it didn't make it up at all {and yes, that happened once or twice}. after that, it was just a marathon run to christmas day. yes, in my family we counted down the days until christmas for a very different reason!

so even though my parents' positions have changed and christmas doesn't bring as many stresses and obligations as before, and i've moved out of the house {but still eating pizza rolls and pot pies} thanksgiving will always have a very special place in my heart. it always reminds me that though i have many things to be thankful for, the one that out weights all of the others put together is family! i'm going home tomorrow to be with my parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews and i can't wait!

what makes thanksgiving so special for you?