flickr photo credit :: Nina Matthews Photography

Have you noticed how each year you get fewer and fewer Christmas cards?  In our world of instant communication, I think we have lost the sweetness of a red envelope sealed with love and sent with thoughts of you on Christmas and what that all means.  My Great Grandmother knew the value of the written word. She would sit at the kitchen table every day and write notes and send cards.  I’m sure she prayed over each one too.  Love poured out of her pen abundantly.  It was just like getting a hug in the mail.

Compassion International and DaySpring understand the value of the written word just like my grandma.  They are hosting a Christmas Card Drive of Epic Proportion.  My friend Lisa-Jo {Gypsy Mama} wrote about this amazing project recently:

Sponsor or no sponsor, turns out what every kid really wants is a letter. A letter to tell them they are special and loved and beautiful and necessary and that they matter much, much more than their circumstances may tell them. When you’ve stood in a corrugated iron shack that houses a family of five who barely escaped a mud slide and watched them pull an envelope of letters that stretch back for years out from under the mattress pad you know you’re in the presence of something special. Paper and ink can be a shelter in the storm.  Often our words are more important than our money.

Photo Credit :: Compassion Guatamala Team

All it takes is for us to see the need and give what we can to meet it. This is a great project for you and the kids Saturday morning! Do you have about 5 minutes and $2.99?  Here is how it works:

1. Click here to go to the Studio DaySpring Christmas Card Drive page.
2. Design a card for a super special kid in Ecuador just dying to hear from YOU (for as little as $1.99).
3. Tell them what makes them so worth celebrating this Christmas season.
4. Include a photo of you and your family and a little bit about you so they know who the card’s coming from – kids LOVE photos!
5. Bear in mind we’ll need some room on the card to translate your message into Spanish.
6. Add to Cart and Voila – you’ve just created a Christmas message that will be hand delivered from you to a child in Ecuador. Our team will be there December 11-16.
7. Oh and (In)courage has a blog button to help spread the word – you can grab it, here.

And one more thing.  Before you click, send, why don’t you pray over that digital card.  Ask God to reach down and touch the heart of that precious little one who will be holding the card you created.  Ask Him to hug them tight and whisper in their ear, you my child are loved.