Two to three weeks  of school vacation for the holidays. What’s a mom to do? There are some great videos available on the internet that promote the spirit of love and giving that is the essence of this holiday season. Here are a few of our favorites and can inspire meaningful conversations with your children. 

The Girl Who Silenced the World at the UN is the story of Severn Suzuki who has been working on environmental and social justice issues since kindergarten. At age 9, she and some friends started the Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO), a small group of children committed to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. They traveled to 1992’s UN Earth Summit, where 12 year-old Severn gave this powerful speech that deeply affected (and silenced) some of the most prominent world leaders. 

Doctor with a Big Heart    is the story of Ingida Asfaw who came to America in a cargo ship at age 16 from Ethopia. He made a promise to himself that he would give back to his homeland when he was able. Now a world-renowned surgeon, Dr. Asfaw has created an international  coalition to address Ethopia’s medical crisis.

Dance Like No One is Watching  is a video of some guy named Matt doing the Gratitude Dance in 42 different countries. Guaranteed to make you happy. Matt dances with people all over the world and he is clearly quite a character and a beautiful fellow.. For a lot more information about his journey, see Matt’s blog.  

Christian the Lion  In 1969, two Australians living in London purchased a 35-pound lion cub from the exotic animal division of Harrod’s department store. For a full year, John Rendall and Ace Bourke raised the cub as their pet, permitting him to lounge freely in the furniture shop they co-owned and even join them for an occasional meal at a local restaurant. In 1972, after the lion had grown too large to properly be cared for, he was taken to Kenya and reintroduced to the wild. Two years later, Rendall and Bourke paid a visit to Kenya to see their old friend. They were told the lion would never remember them. Watch what happened.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation … you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest,torture, or death…you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep…you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace … you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.If your parents are still alive and still married … you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada. 

50% of the world’s population are malnourished. 

80% live in substandard housing.

67% cannot read.

24% have no access to electricity

7% have access to the internet

1% has a college education

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful…you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy — because we will always want to have something else or something more. –Brother David Steindl-Rast

For a history of Thanksgiving, click here.