Each year I get more and more frustrated with Christmas as it pertains to the commercial aspect of it! Our society is beyond spoiled and the last thing we need is a holiday for us to go into debt just to spoil the kids even more!
I've been praying for a way to give the holiday more meaning than being just about presents! Don't get me wrong, I try to focus on Jesus but as much as my kids love Jesus, they're pretty darn excited about the idea of getting showered with a bunch of gifts that they'll play with for a month and then end up tossing in the back of their closets and forgetting about! Hubby & I had already agreed that we were taming down their presents this year but I still wanted more. RACK is exactly what I've been wanting! 
We already bought our kids' presents for this year but I've forewarned them that next year, they are getting 1 big present (nothing too outrageous) and a few little things in their stockings and our focus for Christmas is going to be on what we can do for others and not about what we can get for ourselves!
Money is tight for us this time of year, my husband is an RV salesman and not many people go out buying trailers around the holidays! Praise the Lord, my Scentsy business is doing amazingly well this month but my commission is going to make up for my husband's smaller paycheck with hardly anything to spare. There are still so many things that our family can do even on a super tight budget, to spread Jesus' love this Christmas season! So, I started a Facebook event to get more people on board and started compiling a list of different things we could do. I borrowed some ideas from the original blog that I got the idea from and have daily added new things to the list! I'm so excited about it and I am overjoyed to see the excitement from the others that have joined the event and said they want to do their own RACK!
Here is the list as it is right now:
•Taping candy canes to ATM machines around town
•Bringing hot cocoa and a muffin to a coach, assistant, Salvation Army bell ringer or someone else.
•Taping quarters to vending and toy machines around town
•Grocery shopping for the sole purpose of putting it in the “Food for Families” box in the entryway of the store
•Donating stockings with treats, candy and a craft for one of the grades at a local school in need
•Ringing Salvation Army bells
•Handing out Starbucks gift cards {$5.00 value each}
•Pay past due library fees for 5 people
•Donate a poinsettia to a school
•Donate toys for “Toys 4 Tots”
•Bring your child(ren)'s teachers their favorite Starbucks drinks
•Bring treats to the employees of your local Post Office branch
•Purge from your personal “library” and donate to a school library in need
*Fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child
*Help out in a local mission/homeless shelter
*Do yard work or some other helpful thing for a neighbor
*At a drive-thru, pay for the food of the person that ordered behind you
*Give a treat to your mail person or newspaper delivery person
*Write a thank you note for your pastor
*Pick up trash in a park or your neighborhood
*Take goodies to your local police station and thank them for their hard word during these wet & cold months
*Adopt a family and buy fixings for a Christmas dinner and/or gifts
*Visit people in a nursing home
*Take cards to people stuck in the hospital on Christmas day
*Donate coloring books/crayons to the pediatric dept of the hospital
*Offer to babysit for a single parent
*Invite a military family over for dinner that doesn't have family in the area
*Go Christmas caroling
*Rake leaves up for someone that can't
*Pick a name off the Tree of Joy and buy gifts for that person
*Bake some goodies and take them to your local military station
*Take goodies to the fire department
*Invite a widow(er) to join in on some Christmas fun or for dinner or bring them goodies
*Collect pop cans and donate the money to a charity near and dear to you
*Volunteer at your local womens' shelter or bring them treats or donate clothes or toys for the kids
*Donate blankets to a local shelter
*Knit prayer shawls/scarves for the homeless or people recovering in the hospital
*Start a canned food drive and donate to your local food cupboard
*Don't forget to thank the staff at your local ambulance place
*Leave a bigger tip than you normally would
*Donate your time or food/supplies to your local animal shelter
*Thank your Dr. for working so hard, missing out on time with their family/friends to make sure we're all taken care of when we need it!
*Take hot chocolate or treats to gas station attendants on a chilly day
*Do something nice for someone that you don't get along with
*Offer to babysit for a couple you know in desperate need of a date night!
*clean graffiti
*Give carepacks to the homeless
*Help someone you see brokedown on the road
*Let someone go in line in front of you
*Return shopping carts that are scattered around a parking lot
*Write a letter to someone that has impacted your life in some way
*Talk with a homeless person
*Smile at a stranger
*Bring a treat for your co-workers
Now I just need to sit down and plan out our countdown to Christmas and what thing we'll be doing each day! I can't wait!!
