Three Unique Gift Ideas
Michelle Bertram ~ Advisor ?? Speaker ?? Author ?? Blogger
I help professionals build a Business Plan for Life so that they can have financial peace, and achieve a higher quality of life both now and in the future by using our simple, 4 step Dream Retirement Process.
The countdown to Christmas has begun. Do you have your Christmas shopping done??
I know it’s said that it’s more blessed to give than to receive, but sometimes it feels challenging to figure out what gift is right.??
Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. I cannot believe it. December is flying by!?
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While you might be thinking of a few year-end things you need to do financially, more than likely, shopping and getting ready for Christmas is what’s on your mind.?
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So, I wanted to share today a few Christmas gift ideas that maybe you hadn’t thought about, unique gifts for those hard-to-get people or ideas if you are tired of buying that are going to be put inside and not used.?
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TIME
So, my first unique Christmas gift idea is time.??
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Sometimes we get so caught up in things and our life is so busy that we forget how valuable time is.?
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For all the grandkids, my parents give them something little but the gift is the Kalahari trip sometime in the winter. All the kids are always talking about that more than any other gift.???
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That time with them, that investment in time means more. They remember that but they do not remember the other gifts from year to year.
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So, whether it’s something with your grandkids, a friend, your spouse, or your kids, think about what you could do to give them the gift.?
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Maybe you can combine it with a gift like the Kalahari, but I guarantee you that sometimes just that gift of time is really important, lasting, and meaningful.??
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Make a memory. Do something with your time this year.?
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Another option when it comes to time is to give your time. Maybe volunteer somewhere, give your time away.?
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Whether it’s helping at a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter, or wrapping Christmas presents.?
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Maybe it’s watching kids for someone you know who is a single parent or a young struggling family, just so they can have a night out.?
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Those are other ways that you can give your time and make an impact this Christmas.?
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WISDOM
My second idea here is to give your wisdom.?
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This is another thing that I think is often overlooked that we take for granted, what you know in your years and your experience.?
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It is awesome when you can pass on your wisdom, your values, and your experiences to others, especially to your family, to your kids, and to your grandkids.?
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My grandma has gotten these journals and she wrote all kinds of stories just about her life. It is kind of like a Grandparent’s story to her Grandkids.?
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She filled it all out and some of my sisters have already finished reading it completely.?
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That gift of experience matters.?
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What’s your wisdom??
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What is something you want to make sure that every kid and grandkid or everyone in your life knows?
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Or maybe something that you learned that helps you??
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Maybe there are multiple things and you just want to write down your top 10 tidbits of wisdom.?
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I think that’s an awesome Christmas gift idea.?
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I think it would be treasured and valued by your family, your friends, whoever you give it to.?
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I know I have values that we live by and there are things that I want to make sure my kids know.?
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Of course, I drill it into them because we talked about it all the time, but I would also want to make sure it’s written down so if something ever happened to me, they would have that piece of wisdom.?
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I’m also thinking about other kids in my life.?How can I get some of those scriptures, those positive affirmations about who God says we are written down and give it to them in a meaningful way.
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To me that is powerful.?
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Give away your wisdom this Christmas.??
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GIFT THAT GIVES BACK
Now for the last thing is gifts that make a difference.?
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Maybe you’re just tired of buying another sweater or a gift card. Instead, think about any type of way that you can give a gift that makes an impact.?
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To give you a couple of ideas for that type of gift, there are a few organizations that do it, but I want to highlight a few.?
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World Vision has this awesome?gift catalog?where you can go in and you can buy chickens for a family somewhere, you could buy a fishing pond, you can buy a bicycle.?
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You name it! From soccer balls to wells, all these different things that you can buy as a gift, and that it is giving it to someone else around the world who is in need.?
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Then you get a card that you can personalize and give to that person with their name as a dedication.
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Some of the gifts, like the chickens or lambs, come with little stuffed animals, so it could be a great way to pass on that value and maybe give a little gift that makes sense.?
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So, whether it’s to a grandkid or even an adult, that little lamb on the desk might remind them that the gift you gave this Christmas is helping a family somewhere else all year long.?
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International Justice Mission is another one that I really love. They focus on justice, freeing people that are held in slavery today, and standing up for justice for those that are oppressed.?
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They also have a cool?gift catalog?that also includes some handmade gifts from the survivors.
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If you’re just looking for that cool, fair trade gift, of course, you can Google and find all kinds of things, but one of my personal favorites is the?Papallon?Marketplace in Haiti.
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It is a place in Haiti that we try to visit often and their goal is to really keep kids with families, which I think is awesome.?
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We don’t want kids raised in orphanages, but a lot of kids that end up in orphanages are there because the parents just don’t have the resources to care for them.?
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You can get all kinds of things where they’re from jewelry to metal art to mugs and shirts, lots of different options.?
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All made by Haitians that are now keeping their kids and keeping them in school because they have a job and are able to sustain them and support them.?
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It’s an awesome place to look at for fair trade gifts.?
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Hopefully, you take some of these ideas, maybe all three of them, and give a gift of your time, your wisdom, or support someone in need by purchasing from them.?
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I’d love to hear some of your wisdom too! Shoot us an email with your tidbit of wisdom or top 10 list or that you experience that you want to share,?whatever it is, I’d love to hear it.?
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Send something over to us in our email. You can send it to me directly at?[email protected].?
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I’m excited to get that and see any wisdom that you have because I know we all learn from each other!
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Have a Merry Christmas season!?