Recently, Tiffini from The House of Belonging wrote an incredible post about a change jar she created, and I started thinking . . .
Drop in spare change, and watch it grow. Tangible, tangible.
To help build ownership, our daughter was given full authority to pick the recipient of the money. Oh, the power!
As some of you know, my girl, Amelia, occasionally blogs about our journey towards others-centered service (all for a mere quarter!). So here is what her eight-year-old-self decided to share about our new jar—
Hello world its me Amelia. My family is making a jar with lots of change we don’t use. We are giving the money to are Compassionate child, Audrey. She is six years old and she is sooooo cute. I was going to pick dogs and then hospitals and then make a child smile to give money to but I decided we should give it to Audrey because we are her sponsers. Love kisses, Amelia
And there it is. The Sullivans’ change jar is officially our Compassion child, Audrey’s jar, and we are excited.
What about you? Do you have a special place or reason for saving spare change?
19 comments:
I was just visiting tonight and I saw your Audrey jar...how awesome is that! Our change is growing and I love it! and your daughter is just a doll:)
love it.
we save ours for the year & then pick who/what organization to gift it to as one of our advent activities. we gave some chickens, beds & other items to one of the ministries that i'll be working with in Uganda this winter. such a fun, worthy family project. i love how everyone can be included & takes ownership of it, too!
Amelia, Thank you for sharing! Your blogging skills get better and better with every post, and I am very impressed! I think Audrey will feel very special to know how much you have been thinking of her. Good job! :)
Amelia, I am sure that Audrey will be very thankful and blessed by your decision to allocate the money from the change jar to her. Great choice!
Hey Ladies!
Tiffini, I wanted to link to your actual post, but I noticed you were doing some remodeling. Your blog is looking good. How exciting! I'll check back later and see if everything is up and running and then I'll try again.
Love, Glad to have you here. Always enjoy stopping by your place and checking out your photos.
Lor, Hey, my friend! You are always Amelia's biggest blogging encourager (just like you are my biggest encourager!). Thank you.
Tracie, Always good having you here, girl.
We also save our change and send gifts to our 7 Compassion kids. We aim to send each child at least one $100 gift per year. We use what we have in change and then we pull from our bank account to fund the rest. I think it is amazing to get kids involved. Our daughters have really changed since we started our sponsorship journey. If you are ever looking for ideas for the crucial letter writing aspect of the ministry, feel free to check out my blog! http://meeshimama.blogspot.com
That is really cool! We do not do that. We need to.
Michelle,
7 Compassion Kids? Oh my gosh! That's amazing. I agree. Letter writing is really important. In the past sponsership has been write a check and then drop it in the mail. We are looking to make things with Audrey different, and I will check out the ideas over at your place.
Amy - We have a change jar, but no specific recipient yet. There are possibilities for places we currently give, but getting purposeful with the change jar would be a great idea. You've inspired me, once again!
this is brilliant.
what an amazing little girl you have amy.
Love this post! We did this all year, and saved up so the boys could actually BUY a souvenir when they were at Disneyland. (You know how expensive it is just to get in through the gate?)But, the jar is a great lesson in reaping and sowing, it is a financial lesson on how to save and ultimately, if you need a spare jar to make can your apples, well there you have it!
-H
You're helping develop a wonderful quality in your daughter: compassion. She might be interested in www.operationbeautiful.com (You could tweak it for her.) I also started a group at my school called Difference Makers. Email me if you'd like to know more about it.
I have a secret change jar to raise funds for my son and I to take our first-ever Mom-Son trip this summer. I feel really good about it, because such trips in our family are once-in-a-lifetime.
Amy, this is awesome!! My youngest is a money hog. If he's wearing pants with pockets, he wants some change in them. What a great way to help both my boys see the true value of money!
I was just thinking about you today. One of my goals for my family in 2011 is to become gracious givers. We have a long way to go!
Great post, great idea! I've been wondering how I can cultivate a heart of compassion and giving in my children. (besides starting with myself) I think this is a great way to involve them. Thanks for the inspiration!
-Kim
So simple, but so impactful, Amy! Wonderful idea. We do have a change jar on the kitchen counter...selfishly I was thinking of accumulating change for a family pizza night or ice cream. Now perhaps I will change my tune? Or maybe not...family time is good, too, yes?!
Michelle,
A jar for family time? Um, YES! Very good idea.
That's awesome! What a sweet girl you have!
This is great! I read it awhile back but I was in a hurry and didn't have time to comment. I love the fact that your daughter can choose where to invest it. Raising children with a heart of giving - woohoo! :)
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