{"id":7,"date":"2016-01-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/the-gift-of-giving-christmas-message\/"},"modified":"2016-01-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-16T00:00:00","slug":"the-gift-of-giving-christmas-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/the-gift-of-giving-christmas-message\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of Giving!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">2015 has been a huge year for our family in so many ways- from achieving goals and dreams, to <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">seeing our kids succeed in school.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">So, this Christmas we decided to make it all about blessing others. After all, we know what it is like <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">to struggle and are forever grateful to those who reached out and blessed us. We wanted to pay it <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">forward and inspire others to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Most Christmases, our tree would be overflowing with gifts but our kids are now much older and <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">have a good understanding of the true purpose of Christmas, including the gift of giving. So, with this <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">in mind, we took half of our present money and put it towards this mission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">This Christmas, we wanted to bless families in need who were really struggling to get even the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">necessities such as, bread, milk and meat. The response was overwhelming and also so sad at the <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">same time, to see so many people in our own communities in desperate need of help.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">We set out and made Christmas packs which included things like meat, bread, milk, some goodies <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">too such as candy, chocolates and chippies for the kids.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">We were able to bless 7 families with these Christmas packs- 6 of these families we had never met <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">before. The desperation and humility could be seen in their eyes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Our kids were right there with us, <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">helping to pack and deliver. It was important for us to show our kids the importance of\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">helping those around you. But also showing them to use whatever they have in their <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">hands or within their reach. Many people say, \u2018I have nothing to give\u2019? \u2013 look around you, look <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">within you\u2026 everyone has something to give. Whether its food, clothing, resources, time, friendship <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">or just a shoulder to lean on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Be THAT person. The one that reaches out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">7 families would now have a better Christmas than anticipated, however it was us that walked away <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">blessed. Giving activates so many amazing things in your life such as;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">&#8211; Abundance &gt; <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Proverbs 28:27 He that gives to the poor shall not lack<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">&#8211; Blessings\/ Happiness\/ Success &gt; <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Deuteronomy 15:10 You shall surely give him, and your heart shall <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">not be grieved when you give to him: because that for this thing the LORD your God shall bless you in <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">all your works, and in all that you put your hand to.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">&#8211; Reap Bountifully &gt; <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which sows sparingly shall reap also <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">sparingly; and he which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">It also brings a peace and favour on your life that no one can take away. What goes around comes <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">around.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Next year we aim to double our reach and bless 14 families. We pray that this will also inspire you to <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">go out and do the same.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t<fb:post href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/desiretoprosperbiz\/videos\/770821856356631\/?theater\/\" width=\"550\" style=\"max-width:550px !important;\"><\/fb:post><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ssba\" style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\">\n<div style=\"text-align:center;margin-top:10px;\">Share this post and help spread the love!<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: -20px;\">Shares: 2<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2015 has been a huge year for our family in so many ways- from achieving goals and dreams, to seeing our kids succeed in school. So, this Christmas we decided to make it all about blessing others. After all, we know what it is like to struggle and are forever grateful to those who reached [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2859,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,5,22,6],"tags":[7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-family-home","category-fun-stuff","category-motivational","category-spiritual","category-travel-diaries","tag-7","tag-achieve","tag-action","tag-all-in","tag-balance","tag-breakthrough","tag-business","tag-champion","tag-children","tag-christmas","tag-conor-mcgregor","tag-declare","tag-doubt","tag-dream","tag-dreams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2859"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/desiretoprosper\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}