Just a few notes for a shopping weekend.

1. It’s “support a small business” Saturday. I could ask you to buy that Kindle you want from my amazon store, but that’s not a real small business.(But I write at smallbizsurvival.com sometimes.)

2. You could buy a present for my sister. She loves to help a small business called Artfeeds in Joplin, where the tornadoes were. They actually are a non-profit that takes art to kids in schools, helping them learn how to make art. You know, some of you, how much creativity saves your heart every day. As you listen to music. As you design. As you dance. As my sister Jill points out, they have a new van. They need gas. They accept Paypal. (And it’s what Jill’s getting from us for birthday AND Christmas – a gift for someone else.)

3. In Fort Wayne, where I live, there are kids in a juvenile detention center. Even this weekend. Eighth-graders who have been kicked out of school every year for the last three years and end up getting picked up and sent to juvie. I know. Maybe they deserve it. A little. But maybe they don’t have adults who give a rip. Except Joe does. He goes there all the time to visit them and listen to them and build trust and hope. Here’s a video. And here’s a link to donate. (We did.)

4. Four years ago, I wrote a series of posts for the season of Advent. They looked at people in the book of Luke anticipating something. I decided to run them here starting December 1. I’m taking a couple days off first. I’ll finish the creed sometime, I promise. But I need to step back and anticipate, too. (You can download the whole Advent reader if you don’t want to wait).