Giving Thanks and #GivingTuesday: A Perfect Way to Live the Grace of Yes

World View Wednesdays

Wow. What a month it has been here at Catholic Mom! I don’t know about you, but I loved every minute of celebrating with our dear founder Lisa as she launched her book baby into the world this month. All those faces offering their “yes” each in their own unique way were so encouraging for me to continue to live out my own calling generously every day.

And now this week we all focus on giving thanks. No matter what your circumstances have been this year, I do hope you are finding many, many things in your life to give thanks for this week. God is good in so many big and little ways and we are so privileged to be able to have a faith that ministers that goodness to us in the sacraments and the liturgy daily.

What I want to ask today is what you are planning for the days that follow Thanksgiving. You know, that little thing we have come to call Black Friday? And then its offspring, Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday?

Whether you are the type to head out after Thanksgiving dinner and fight frost on your eyelashes outside your favorite shopping outlet, or the one filling up online shopping carts in your jammies and slippers, or keeping things small and simple and as local as possible in gift giving, there is one day we can all agree is worth participating in.

Have you heard of Giving Tuesday

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Giving Tuesday takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year. This year, that is Tuesday, December 2. The concept is simple. Here is what the Giving Tuesday site has to say about the day:

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.

It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Join us and be a part of a global celebration of a new tradition of generosity.

You can celebrate the day by giving money to support one of your favorite organizations or outreaches either locally or on a global level, but you can also celebrate by giving your time or another material resource like food to an organization right in your own community.

What a great way to kick off Advent as a family and live a generous “yes” too!

The folks at Giving Tuesday are hoping to take over social media that day using the #GivingTuesday and #unselfie hashtags. You can find tools to share your Giving Tuesday story here at the site. It’s not so much tooting your own horn as it is making an impact on your circle of influence for good. So share the good news of generosity. You never know who you might inspire so that your little circle of “yes” ripples out and does big things.

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Want to do even more? You can join the Giving Tuesday movement by coming a social media ambassador!

Need a suggestion on where to give this year? Click around previous World View Wednesday posts for ideas. We at St. Bryce Missions are bringing a little extra Christmas love to Tanzania in December with a new chapel project and a maize delivery. And we have a few moms to love through the last months of their pregnancies this Advent season at our St. Francis Emmaus Center. We’d love for you to partner with us this #GivingTuesday.

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And you might have noticed our little teaser appearing around the site about our plans to say “yes” together as a community in 2015? Well, you can do a little prep work now to make sure you are ready to join us! Head over to Pure Charity and create an account.

Next month, we’ll tell you more about how we’ll be partnering with Pure Charity to do some good together in 2015.

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I pray you and those you love with have so many reasons to give thanks this week, and that you will also find the joy of celebrating a new tradition together this year in #GivingTuesday.

Copyright 2014, Colleen Mitchell

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