There’s nothing better than spending the holiday season with your family.

If you’re like me, you cherish every moment—the meals together, the special trips to visit relatives. For me, it was cutting the Christmas tree with the whole family. We made a whole day of it. I’ll remember that forever.

Sure, sometimes the holidays get hectic. But it’s Christmas. It’s a special time for us and for our children. It’s a time we all anticipate with excitement.

But right now I know several kids who are not looking forward to Christmas this year. They are doing their best to put on a smile, but inside they are hurting.

They just really miss their parents.

You see, there are thousands of children in the United States right now whose parents are absent. It’s not because of divorce or abandonment. It’s because their parents chose to make the sacrifice to serve as soldiers for our country. Now these kids are trying to “do life” without a mom or dad. And quite frankly, the holidays are the hardest times.

It wasn’t an easy choice for these parents. They knew it would put them in harm’s way, and they knew it would be hard on their kids. But they felt called to serve, and we are honored to have them protecting our country and our freedom.

What can we do to give back to them? What can we do to offer encouragement to these kids at home this Christmas season?

For many of these children, their grandparents are the closest thing they have to parents right now. And here at the Christian Grandparenting Network, we want to do all we can to equip these grandparents as they step in for mom and dad.

As a partner of CGN, you have the opportunity this Christmas to do something special for these kids AND these grandparents.

Here’s the plan…

Every year, CGN offers what we call Grand Camps. Think of summer camp…with grandparents. It’s amazing. This is an opportunity for grandparents to spend quality time with their grandkids while passing the torch of their spiritual legacy. They are powerful weeks—a blessing for the kids, as well as the adults.

But this year, we’re planning to do something EXTRA special. We’re holding the first ever Military Kids Grand Camp. It’s a camp specifically for children and their grandparents who have parents deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, or another part of the world.

For these kids, we wanted to do something unique. We wanted to give them their very own Grand Camp, and give it to them free as a gift this Christmas. It’s the least we can do! (After all, their parents are serving our country – and the grandkids and grandparents are paying a big part of that price.)

Wouldn’t it be great to give these kids something to take their mind off the heartache of war—the pain they feel every day when they wake up and are reminded about their father or mother and where they are serving?

This holiday season, let’s give these kids something to look forward to.

Let’s give them something to truly smile about, even in the midst of such trials.

What a great Christmas gift it would be—a certificate indicating that their place is confirmed. Let’s give them a note informing them of the great summer awaiting them at Grand Camp—a summer full of swimming, hiking, fishing, whitewater rafting and best of all, time with family!

Together, we can do this. We can encourage these kids. We can bless these families. We can help to provide a loving, nurturing environment during such a critical time.

But if we’re going to do this, we have no time to waste.

To send one child to Grand Camp this coming summer, it will cost our organization $325. That’s just a little more than $50 per month between now and the summer. It’s no small task. So if we’re going to do it, we need commitments right now from people who care.

These kids need a commitment from you.

This Christmas season, as you prepare to spend time with your family, I’m asking you to help me encourage these kids by giving them this special Military Kid Grand Camp. I’m asking you for the most generous gift possible—something honoring to our Lord and Savior—something honoring to their parents serving our country.

There is nothing more important than our children. And for a small price you can offer them a BIG GIFT of encouragement.

Please pray about a special gift this holiday season. Maybe it’s $10, $25, or $50. Maybe God is asking you to give $100. The Lord might even be asking you to give monthly to send a child, along with their grandparents, to Grand Camp this summer.

Whatever the Lord is asking you to do, please do it quickly. We want to send word to these kids by Christmas—giving them something to truly brighten their holidays.

Let’s join together to do something great this Christmas. Let’s give these kids something they will remember for a lifetime!

You’ll be so blessed when you do this. To know that you are giving back to those families sacrificing so much for our country right now—to know that you are encouraging these kids and grandparents at such a difficult time—it’s a great feeling! And I’ll be sure to share with you the name and situation of the family you helped out, along with some pictures of their smiling faces while enjoying Grand Camp.

I look forward to hearing back from you soon, and really pray that you join with me this Christmas season to bless these kids.

PS—This is our opportunity to give back to those that have sacrificed so much for us and our country. (I’m talking about the kid’s of our military personnel.) Let’s join together to encourage these military kids this Christmas as their parents are off serving our country.