Stories
Brook 's Story
October 29th, 2009
This is more of an idea than a story. Towards the end of the summer each year I start thinking about the upcoming Christmas card. I look forward to it all year long. I start planning the various aspects of our yearly card. What pictures will I use this time, what color scheme will I go with, what will the envelopes be like this season? A million questions run through my mind as I eagerly anticipate the Christmas card. As crazy as this sounds I know there are other women out there doing the same thing. I can tell by the elaborate array of Christmas cards we get in the mail each season. Christmas cards have become big business. I know it sounds like a little much but I LOVE IT and I look forward to proudly mailing out my finished product each year. I design them, make them in photoshop, take the pictures, have them printed and excitedly send them out to around 60 people each Christmas. The Radical Experiment has caused me to think long and hard about each dollar we spend in our home. After carefully analyzing the costs I decided that our money could be spent elsewhere with much more eternal impact. So, I decided to nix this year's Christmas card. I went online and found several holiday letter templates that can be purchased for around $2 and even more that were free. I plan to put together a holiday letter complete with photos and an explanation of why we are doing a holiday letter email rather that a card. We saved $30 in stamps, $10 on envelopes and $30 on the printing of the cards. By the time you add stickers to seal the cards, address labels and shipping costs to have them sent to the house we have spent way too much money on a card to wish someone Merry Christmas. A card that will most likely be thrown away when the New Year rolls around. We have decided to forgo a Christmas card and use the money we've saved to meet the urgent needs of others in our community and around the word. Our Christmas email letter will be FREE and will include a link to the Radical sermon series and Radical Experiment website. Our hope is that not only can we use our money in a way that will bring glory and honor to God, but that our Christmas letter will spur others on in the same manner.