Christmas is coming. Check your mailbox.
The Annual Christmas Card: like fruitcake and wassailing, it’s a golden tradition of a by-gone era. Back when picking out a Christmas tree involved a tramp through the woods with your ax on your shoulder. Back when a one-horse, open-sleigh ride was your primary mode of transport. Back when you didn’t shop for your Christmas presents online – you carved them by hand – your hand – while sitting next to the fire in your little house on the prairie. You know, Christmas cards.
It’s an opportunity to say “hello” and “season’s greetings” and “well, enough about you – here’s all about how I’m doing”. That’s why each year we squeeze in a clever message about how we’re doing on support raising. Two years ago it took the form of a postcard that read “Wishing You a Very Halfway There Christmas”. This year, it’s about the fact that we’re leaving for the field (underfunded) come January. We’re including a little Christmas treat in each card – a wedding photo and a shiny, new prayer card of both Shalynn and myself to replace that old, dusty one you have on your fridge.
Thanks to Shalynn’s meticulous record-keeping of addresses, we’re sending out about 400 cards. That dwarfs any previous notions I had up until this point regarding mailing for support raising. It may be a little old fashioned (and there may be better ways to raise support), but, heck, we’re suckers for old school holiday traditions.