The 8th Day of Christmas with Courtney DeFeo–Lil’ Light O’ Mine

Welcome to the 7th annual 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!!!

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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:

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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, authorcourtney-defeo 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 Light Em Up Suprisethey 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. Generosity

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.

About the Book:

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.

223 Comments

  1. A couple of years ago, my mom and I sewed a little girl in need a doll basket and quilt for her dolly. I grew up making donations to children and the elderly, but that was my favorite act of kindness.

  2. My husband and I have always loved blessing others out of our blessings. Sometimes when finances were very tight it meant giving of our time and talents. We still do that but this year God blessed us beyond our wildest dreams and its be so amazing being able to anonymously taken care of needs when we hear of them. Also, we have been able to spoil friends! It’s been amazingly fun :)

  3. We have always liked serving the homeless. Going to a homeless mission and having our kids be a part of helping and serving others in need!

  4. We do Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, we donate food to our local food pantry and help sort and stock the shelves, we donate coats and blankets to one of the shelters, we donate items to our local pregnancy center, and we also adopt a family through our church and buy gifts for them.

  5. The school I work in usually visit an orphanage or a home of some kind which have needs to be met. We take them necessities they require and share carols with them too. Our church goes caroling and visit and old age home with goody bags for the residents.

  6. One thing I always do is smile as I run my errands and be grateful to those that do anything to serve me, like packing groceries or loading my car with heavy things. It may seem like a small thing, but at my age (63), it is a big thing to Jesus who looks upon my heart during this busy season of the year.

  7. We like to do things anonymously, drop cookies on someones doorstep, leave an envelope on a front seat, bring hot cocoa to the bell ringers, and go Christmas caroling.

  8. Each year my kids candy-cane our neighborhood. They love dressing up all festive, attaching the tags to the candy and hanging them on everyone’s door.

  9. We love to pack the Operation Christmas Child box but we are also blessed enough to have a child born 10 days before Christmas so we get to dedicate his birthday to Toys 4 Tots and have everyone bring a toy to give to them.

  10. We usually pick a needy family at this time of year and provide food and gifts. Sometimes we bake homemade cookies and deliver to people who are living at the reservoir across the street from our home…

  11. My favorite thing that we have done this year is to deliver Starbucks Cocoa to people selling Christmas trees in the frigid weather.

  12. Love that idea! I try to always smile at everyone. That may be the only one they see all day.
    monk5 at charter dot net

  13. We enjoy having people who are not near family or have no family in over the holidays. We also enjoy giving baking away.

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