Ah, the Twelve Days of Christmas

It’s that song that gets stuck in your head, if nothing else out of sheer repetition throughout the month of December. As far as we know, the first version kicked off in a children’s book in 1780, and something roughly resembling our current version was written by a fellow named Frederic Austin in 1909. From there, it was on to the endless playful, and sometimes intentionally mocking, variations we’ve all heard played over and over (thank you in particular Jeff Foxworthy).

And of course, there are the “Twelve Days of Giving” marketing campaigns to encourage donors to support a particular cause. As a non-profit, we have no problem with that concept, and if you want to make a gift to Home of Hope on each of the twelve days of Christmas (if you’re not sure when to make those payments, the twelve days start on Christmas day and continue into January), we’re willing to accept them. What we would rather do this year, though, is scoot onto the couch beside you (move over just a bit – thanks) and think together about twelve ways we can all make a difference for other people at this time of year. Some involve financial gifts, some gifts of our stuff, and some more simply gifts of our time and our attention.