They say “it takes a village.” This Christmas, an entire community came together to support one homeless family. It all started with two teenagers, whose only wish for Christmas was to spend it with their mom and siblings. Since last Christmas, the kids were separated and placed into foster care. The family is now well on the road to being reunified permanently, but the week before Christmas the kids realized they weren’t able to be together for the holiday. That’s when they made their Christmas wish, and that’s where the community stepped in.

Thanks to the Clarion Hotel in Aberdeen, East Coast Fire Protection in Hanover, Chick-Fil-A in Abingdon, Oak Grove Baptist Church, plus some generous individuals, the childrens’ wishes were granted… and then some! The family enjoyed warm, comfortable accommodations, yummy food, a Christmas tree, and presents galore. Best of all – they spent Christmas together as a family.

One donor commented that his gift felt insignificant in light of the great need. Others weren’t even aware of the situation when they offered their services. None of it was coincidence. Upon “opening the door,” and being willing to participate, we allowed God to work in our lives and in the lives of this family.

Each person’s generosity was key to meeting this family’s need. If we are willing to give of ourselves, together we can accomplish great things.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this great gift.

Each morning I receive a quick thought from the folks at iMom.com, via email. Today’s “Espresso Minute” was titled “The Value of Generosity” and referred to portions of text from “Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes… in You and Your Kids!” by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, R.N., B.S.N.

It is this time of year when the concept of giving is forefront in our minds. As parents, it can be particularly tough to get our kids to focus more on the giving and less on the getting that seems so prevalent at Christmas. This is one of the reasons my husband and I chose to become foster parents: to instill in our own children the value of generosity.

Most days, however, when we’re caught up in the piles of laundry, loads of homework, and mouthfuls of bickering, that lesson seems intangible. But today, I was blessed to catch a glimpse of the fruits of our labor.

We currently have two sisters, ages 12 and 15, staying with us. Since their arrival in July, our lives have been turned upside down, and we’ve learned a lot about raising teenagers (our own biological children are just 7 and 10). It’s been a fun adventure, even though life with four girls is a bit of an emotional roller coaster (just ask my husband).

Today, the two younger sisters (ages 4 and 8 ) of our foster daughters came to stay for Christmas week (if you’re counting that brings us to 6 girls between the ages of 4 and 16!). After becoming acclimated to our home, they were drawn to the lit Christmas tree, surrounded by dozens of wrapped packages. They quickly found those with their names, and those of their siblings. Then they turned their attention to learning about my daughters.

One of the girls commented how much she loved the poster on my 10-year-old’s bedroom door. Another one reveled in the scent given off by my 7-year-old’s favorite body lotion. One after the other, my 10-year-old and 7-year-old each secretly brought the cherished items into the office and asked for wrapping paper, tape, and scissors. I watched in awe as my daughters placed those wrapped items under the tree with tags bearing our new houseguests’ names. If you have kids, you can imagine this was a major proud mommy moment!

Then it hit me: this is the season of giving. It’s not just Christmastime that is for giving. It’s our whole lives, and our whole childrens’ lives. It’s teaching them from the moment they can say “mine” that it’s better to say “yours.” It’s providing them with opportunities to share what they have – and what they love – then smiling tears of joy as they take that lesson and run with it.

Tomorrow will still have lots of laundry (but no homework because of Christmas break!) and plenty of bickering, but through it all is the undercurrent of something bigger… something better. I’m so blessed to be a part of it.

While doing some research on search engine optimization (SEO) for my web design book, I came across a page from Google’s User Experience team that discusses the organization’s design principles. Upon reading these principles, I felt compelled to share it with the world (or at least the three people who read my blog ).

The folks at Google have come up with a “words to live by” list for web designers everywhere – not just those employed by Google. Here are the top ten principles. Read the details at Google’s site.

1. Focus on people – their lives, their work, their dreams… above all, a well-designed product is useful in daily life.
2. Every millisecond counts… unnecessary clicks, typing, steps, and other actions are eliminated.
3. Simplicity is powerful… think twice before sacrificing simplicity in pursuit of a less important feature.
4. Engage beginners and attract experts… the best designs appear quite simple on the surface but include powerful features that are easily accessible to those users who want them.
5. Dare to innovate… it is the element of imagination that transforms designs from ho-hum to delightful.
6. Design for the world… design products that are contextually relevant and available through the medium and methods that make sense to users. [Amen!]
7. Plan for today’s and tomorrow’s business… if a profitable design doesn’t please users, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind… a positive first impression makes users comfortable, assures them that the product is reliable and professional, and encourages people to make the product their own.”
9. Be worthy of people’s trust… make sure the interface is efficient and professional, actions are easily reversed, ads are clearly identified, terminology is consistent, and users are never unhappily surprised.
10. Add a human touch… text and design elements should be friendly, quirky, and smart – not boring, close-minded, or arrogant.