The best Mother's Day present

May I suggest, with Mother's Day approaching, that the moms reading this consider asking for a life-changing gift this year?  Instead of flowers and dinner out, have dinner in and ask for one of these...

There are a few organizations (Compassion International, World Vision, and others) that have gifts you can purchase for another family. $40 buys a pig for a family who may be facing starvation. $79 gives a family clean drinking water for life.  $52 can send a girl to school for a year.  It doesn't have to be expensive either.  $10 gives a family the seeds to start a garden, plus guidance from workers who can teach them about sowing and harvesting.

It's a little thing for us moms to give up, and a huge thing for a family in need. I got a "pig" for Christmas a couple years ago, along with a stuffed animal pig and a World Vision card. I keep it on one of my bookshelves and smile when I think about that family enjoying that pig.

We don't usually buy a lot of gifts for Mother's Day, so I think this year I will put together a veggie basket from the local market and present it to my mother-in-law with a card saying I purchased the $10 seeds  for a family in need.  She loves healthy eating and she loves helping others.  If you know what the mother you're buying for is passionate about you can choose your gift around that.

My cousin has very aptly pointed out that "it's also a great idea for those of us who have mothers who, shall we say, are no longer easy to buy for."  It's so true.  You can honor the life of a mother who has passed away and is no longer physically present to receive a gift, but still very much part of you.

This is also a great way to honour the woman who so wishes she could be a mother.  She may not physically be capable of bearing a child, but she still has a mother's heart and she can be honoured all the same.

It's such a little thing for us to ask of our families.  But it can mean the difference between life and death for another family.

If you want to do this for yourself or for a mother in your life, please let me know in the comments so we can follow up and find out how the world was changed for Mother's Day this year.