{This post is from 2011, but it’s something we do each year. Your child and your child can be a hero!}

Welcome to day 6 of Making Small Changes! (If you’re new, click here for the explanation of this series!)

Today, I want to challenge us to make small changes in our way of thinking about Christmas. Even though it’s still a while away, I wanted to give some heads up to one of our favorite ministries.

Christmas is truly the most wonderful time of the year for us, and one thing I want to instill in my children is selflessness, instead of the selfishness that can so easily accompany this time of year. That is a HARD thing to do, but we are slowly but surely finding some avenues that help us lead them to be givers.

Each year, our family participates in one of my FAVORITE gift-giving events of the year: Operation Christmas Child, which is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse. (If you don’t know anything about OCC, watch this short video. It is amazing! And I dare you not to cry.)

Our kids love to do this- and it is a great exercise in selflessness for them as we fill our shopping buggies with goodies for others.

So here’s a five-step tutorial on how to be a huge blessing in the life of another child this year.

1.) Pick out goodies that children love! Dollar stores are great places to get these.

3.) Take a regular shoe box, and wrap the box and the lid separately.

(Easier said than done!) You can also use a clear, plastic shoe box.

4.) Cram the box as full as you can without busting the sides!

5.)  Take the box to your church- if they’re accepting them- or to a drop off location,