Mud & Make-up; Puddles & Purses: Advent Calendar Day 7

Eva loved today's activity and I found it almost impossible to contain her excitement. I'm not sure why I even tried because the wrapping paper ends up torn and in the trash anyway, right? :)
Today she drew out a gift wrapping station with a little elf. We talked about how much fun giving gifts is, and how beautiful they look when all wrapped up. I asked her how she feels when someone gives her a beautifully wrapped present that they made or picked out especially for her. She looked up at me with the widest smile and just said, "ooooohhhh!!!". I had her cousin, Caleb's, gift on the table and I told her we get to wrap these gifts that we picked out just for him and make them really beautiful for him to open on Christmas day. She was practically jumping out of her skin- I had to calm her a little because there were scissors involved in this activity!!
I thought long and hard about this activity. Part of the reason I did this Advent calendar in the first place was to take the emphasis AWAY from gifts. But, I also know that it's inescapable in our culture and really want to help her to focus more on the giving than the receiving. She has a very generous spirit, and this concept seems to be easy for her (until the 2-year old "mine" rears its ugly head, usually when playing with one of her cousins). We talked a lot about the Christmas story today (I don't think it's possible to talk about it too much so we pretty much cover it every single day) and how we give gifts to people as one way to celebrate Jesus' birthday. A few weeks ago we made a "shoebox" gift for a child in need in another country. We went shopping and she picked out items that she thought "a little girl just like me would like". It might not have lasted long, but for a few minutes that day, she seemed to understand that there are kids who don't have toys, or even food. There are some kids who don't have a mommy or daddy. I told her that Jesus tells us very clearly in the Bible that we are to help care for them. So, we began to do that with the shoebox gift. I am praying fervently for God to show me what else He wants me to do. One thing I am sure of is that He is calling our family to do much, much more... I reminded Eva of that today when we wrapped Caleb's present in beautiful paper and ribbon. I told her that we can't forget about the people in the world who need our help. My little Eva then asked me to pray for them. She bowed her head and clasped her hands and we prayed together for God to show us who we are supposed to help next.