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The videos put out by Advent Conspiracy every year CHALLENGE me and help me stay focused on what I believe to be the ONLY REASON worth celebrating at Christmas.

In watching one of their videos again, I couldn't help but relate my last post to the video.  What kind of investments am I making?  What kind of investments are you making?  What kind of investments are our families making?  What kind of investments is our nation making?

The video couldn't be more direct.  We can invest our money into stuff, literally ... alllllllllllll the gifts that we buy for alllllllllll the people in our lives at Christmas.  Or we can invest our money into saving lives.  It is that simple.

Yes, I really do believe that you and I can save lives.  That is part of why my friend and I are combining ... and praying for others to join us ... to build a well in Uganda.  One of the reasons we are doing this is because this particular village in Uganda does not have access to clean water.  Matteus told me today how on his thankful turkey at school one of the things he was thankful for was "clean water."  My son has clean water (pause).  Millions of other sons do NOT have clean water (pause).

I know I so take for granted that I can turn on my tap and have clean water.  I have a heart for the fact that children, women, and men are dying every day "simply" because they are drinking unclean water.  I say simply, because that is just one of the many reasons why children every day across the globe die.  They die because they don't have clean water.  We have an unlimited amount of clean water ... unlimited ... sigh ...

There are soooooooo many other ways to invest in saving the lives of others, child sponsorship is another immediate major one that comes to mind ...

Soooooooo as I enter into this Christmas season, which is by the way one of my favorite times of the year I am entering it with an advent conspiracy heart.  In the last couple of years our celebration of gift giving has gotten simpler and simpler, and this year we are trying to do just the same.  Instead of focusing on gifts we try to focus on FUN and memorable family traditions ... and of course on celebrating the birthday of our King and Creator!