The 8th Day of Christmas with Courtney DeFeo–Lil’ Light O’ Mine
Welcome to the 7th annual 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!!!
12 Days.
12 friends guest posting sharing a Christmas idea, recipe or favorite with you.
12 great giveaways for you to enter along with one GRAND PRIZE for someone who comments to enter all 12 days!!
And here is the GRAND PRIZE:
It includes:
*A Proverbs 31 Real Life devotional Bible
*A tin of Holiday tea from Harney & Sons
* A bottle of twisted peppermint lotion from Bath & Body Works
*A Christmas CD by Michael O’Brien
* And a $75.00 gift certificate to Proverbs 31 Ministries to purchase books, dvd’s, Bible studies or something from the Fashion and Compassion jewelry collection where bullets from Ethiopia have been turned into gorgeous jewelry by at-risk women.
Be sure to comment on all 12 days to be entered to win the grand prize!!!!
And now….here is today’s guest……
Welcome to the Eighth Day of Christmas! Our post today is complements of the completely cool Courtney DeFeo. Courtney is a popular blogger, author
of In This House, We Will Giggle and creator of ABC Scripture Cards and Light ‘Em Up. She is a graduate of Auburn University and has worked in marketing for Chick-fil-A. Courtney and her husband, Ron, are the parents of two children. To connect with Courtney, visit CourtneyDeFeo.com
How To Teach the Joy of Generosity Through Laughter vs Lectures
After school one day, I grabbed my two girls and their friend and told them we were headed on a little adventure. They are used to these bizarre antics from their mother. I started the Light ‘Em Up movement which is essentially ways for families to spread kindness together. So, they typically just roll with an after-school adventure like this one.
On this particular day, I had a bag of dollar bills, a bag of nickels and pennies, and a bag of Light ‘Em Up “surprise” gift tags. I told them we were headed to the Dollar Tree to hide Ziploc bags of $1.06 all over the store. They smiled so big.
It’s like 
they could imagine the strangers finding their treats and they were ready to roll. So, the assembly line began in the back seat. One child would stuff the dollar, one would add the coins for tax and the other would toss in the note and zip it up. Once we got to the store, we had around 15 bags ready to go and we hopped out ready for our sneaky adventure. We walked in the store and headed to the back, trying not to make a scene. We taped a bag near the toys and a bag near the food. And one near the dog toys. We were giggling and running from people so we wouldn’t get caught.
Joy and laughter filled my girls hearts as generosity filled The Dollar Tree.
As we were pulling out, a homeless woman tapped on my window and asked if she could wash my window for change. I shook my head “no” since I was totally out of cash. My sweet Ella said, “Mom, tell her about the store!” My heart almost combusted with pride. “Yes, Ella!” I rolled down the window and told the kind lady where she could find a dollar (or fifteen) and she ran into the store with a smile.
Throughout our generosity journey as a family, I have learned that we just have to be willing. We never know what God has in store once we just say “yes.” My kids didn’t need a boring lecture on generosity that day. They got it. They learn virtues through experiences. They learn the joy of giving through laughter. In my recent book, In This House, We Will Giggle, I include a memory verse and virtue definition for each of the 12 virtues. It was really important that the book be a very practical resource for busy moms just like me.
Today, my gift to each of you is this easy downloadable virtue card on Generosity. You can print and put right on your fridge or back door. Or, put it in a frame. The definition puts it in a language our kids can understand. 
Merry Christmas from my giggling house to yours!
Giveaway: Courtney is giving away one copy of In This House, We Will Giggle to the winner of Day 8’s comments. Simply Share your favorite way to spread kindness in your community during the holidays, in the comment section below.
In This House, We Will Giggle: Making Virtues, Love, and Laughter a Daily Part of Your Family Life offers parents a practical approach to instilling virtues in their children through laughter, rather than lecture. Designed to cover an entire year, each of the 12 chapters highlights one key virtue in developing a child’s character, along with insights to help infuse the virtue into everyday life. In This House, We Will Giggle teaches children to experience the goodness of God, the joy of following Jesus and the difference children can make in the lives of others.
So be sure to leave a comment and don’t forget to come back for all 12 days! {And remember, if you comment on all 12 posts, you might win the Grand Prize!} May your Merry memory making be met with giggles.
We give our daughter the World Vision Gift Catalog and let her look through it and decide which items she wants our family to donate. It’s a great way for her to become aware of the real basic needs so many other children in the world don’t have that we take for granted.
We try to find things where our kids can actively participate. They each took there own money to buy items for our Magi Christmas boxes.
Pay for someone’s meal
Each year our family chooses “names” from the giving tree at church. We try to choose individuals who are the same age as our kids so they can pick out things that they would like to give to others.
This year I am asking all my vanpool buddies (12) to sponsor a family from a local church during the holiday season as a group. My goal is for them to share this idea with friends and family, which in return might increase our donation. I also want other vanpools at my job site to be inspired by out genorsity and do the same.
I learned about Courtney DeFeo and Light ‘Em Up just a couple weeks ago and was inspired to organize a Light ‘Em Up group in my area and to fill my family’s Advent calendar with daily acts of service and gestures of gratitude. Today since I was taking my 3-year old to her neurologist in the same office building as our rock star pediatrician, we decided to drop off a little goodie bag with treats like a bag of Life Savers (with a note telling her that she has been a “Life Saver” when we were sick) and a “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book (with a note saying “When chicken soup doesn’t help, you always make us feel better!”). I’m sure that our doctor loved it, but I think that tomorrow we will need to take treats to the office staff because my 3 year-old took her seizure medicine on an empty stomach and, very unexpectedly, vomited on the floor in the reception area :( Oh boy! What a day!
I like to be especially kind and considerate to service people during this time of the year when they are often treated unkindly.
Giggle while you share! Great to remember all year and set the example for your kids!
My love language is not gift giving–but my MOM had a heart of a servant and was sharing even when there was little-want to give that love of sharing on to my kids!
Great idea from Courtney! We love to bake — so that’s how we spread Christmas joy and generosity!
I LOVE this idea! We used to do Secret Santa a few years when my daughter was younger. It was a blast shopping for someone, then not letting them know it was from US! Best gift giving EVER!
As always it enjoy the posts and the encouragement. It’s been a hard year but when it’s hard I try to focus and help someone having a harder time and count my blessings and thank The Lord it’s not worse!
Rather than buying a bunch of gifts, we donate to a local Christian soup kitchen.
Sometimes, though, it’s the little things that can make a difference. This time of year, as people feel more pressure, more stress, more negativity, I find that the best I can do on a daily basis is to genuinely smile at someone, ask how they are, reach out, connect…
What a wonderful idea! The world needs more generosity and giggles. I love the Generosity card- how beautiful!
I love Courtney! Her attitude on life is amazing! I would love to do some of the things she does. Giving without telling is such fun
Love this idea! What a great way to inspire my middle schoolers to think beyond themselves! We do a big meal packaging program at our church in January, and the fundraising begins in December, so our gift tags this year will be cards explaining that a gift was given to this project in their name!
Hug a hurting neighbor or just be there to listen
Give out hugs to neighbors who are hurting. Or just listen
Thank you for being a continual blessing to me. Your willingness to give and express
genuine love is forever and greatly appreciated:-)
God Bless you & your family!
Somethings I do all year round to spread kindness to the community are:
Thank a veteran for his service
Have my boys hold the door open for older people/ladies
Upon approaching a person say Good Morning (or whatever the time may be)
Look at the person when talking (not my cell phone)
Ask the cashier or whomever I am calling “How are you today?”
When I encounter a mistake made on the other person’s part (think McDonald’s) handle it with grace.
I live in a neighborhood where people will introduce themselves when you move in and then you will never hear from them again! It is a culture thing, and not rudeness, so we have been working on it. Each year before Christmas and before Easter I deliver a bag of candy to our neighbors. It is M&M’s this year for Christmas. It is usually jelly beans for Easter. ANSI put a lable on wishing them a Merry Christmas from our family, including our names and street address. And it is working! Slowly. We get many more waves and hellos and chats I the street. It is a lovely start.
So this week my children and I will label up our candy and leave it on doorsteps
Giving is the best part of the season! Love your ideas…
We made boxes for Samaritan’s Purse this year. One for a girl and one for a boy. I also host a Christmas brunch every year for my friends, during which we pray, laugh and EAT! I love to give away homemade goodies to neighbors and share a smile with a stranger. Merry Christmas everyone!!
We make plates of goodies for the neighbors, the mailman, and the trash guy. We have also, in the past, made boxes for Samaritan’s purse. We open our home every Christmas for those in our church who have no where else to go; it blesses them and us!
Our church reaches out to the community by buying Christmas presents for children in need. We went shopping for them last week. We had a list of what they needed (clothes, shoes etc). We also had a list of what they wanted. We were instructed to buy the essentials first and if we had enough money to buy the wants. I ran out of money (church provided). My little guy wanted a disco light. Even though I wasn’t expected to use my own money, I just had to buy that child a disco light! I hope his eyes light up on Christmas morning…
We love to play secret santa and do RAK.