giving water

David and I were looking through the World Vision catalog this weekend to pick out what will likely be the most meaningful gift we give anyone this Christmas. Then we saw this video (link below), and it really got us thinking. So we decided rather than just doing something on our own, we would put the idea out there to our friends and see if we can all do something really big together.

We are planning to put money towards a deep well that can provide 2,800 gallons of safe water every day for up to 300 people. The cost for World Vision to drill a well like this is $18,000. We have no idea how many of you are interested in joining us ... but man, wouldn't it be exciting if we could give the full amount and know that an entire village somewhere will have clean, fresh, life-giving water because of us!

Please take a couple minutes to watch the video and think about it. Then let us know if you want to join our little Christmas project and how much you're pledging. We'll keep your amount confidential, of course, but we'll keep an updated tally on our blog (front-row-seat.blogspot.com) so everyone can see how close we are to the total goal. Then we'll all send in our gifts together on the day after Christmas. And we'll keep you posted about a celebration party at our house in January!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

p.s. A couple good ideas we've heard about that might help as you consider if and how much to give --
1. Don't buy any "obligation presents" and put the money toward a gift that will really count.
2. Estimate your budget for Christmas gifts and cut it by 10% (or more!) and use that money for something truly meaningful.
3. Instead of buying individual gifts pick names among your family members and pool all that extra money for a purposeful project.