Angel Tree

When I was pregnant with Lillian I kept this running list in my head of the different kinds of values and beliefs that I wanted to instill her. The qualities that I thought would be essential to the foundation of this person that I would be responsible for. Qualities that I believed would be key to her development as a human being. But as the list grew to what became to be outrageous expectations, I tried to narrow it down to only what I thought to be the most important attributes. Generosity. Be generous. For me, that seemed to be the key to raising a loving, compassionate, caring, empathetic little person. If there is anything I can teach Lillian it is this; to be generous with every part of your life. Be generous with your time, with your heart, with your money, with your knowledge, with your forgiveness, and with your love.

We decided that every Christmas we would take Lillian to pick a child her age from one of our local Angel Trees, and then take her to do the shopping for that particular boy or girl. Hopefully doing this every year will help her to understand how important it is to help those who need it, and to give to other little boys and girls who do not have what she has. So today we are going to bundle up and brave the cold to go shopping for our Angel Tree. This will be the first tradition that we are starting for our children, and I think that it will probably be the most important.