By Shea Northcut

As we begin a new year, it is important to take a moment to look at all God has given us in the past year as well as take a moment to reflect on goals for 2012.

Here at Faith Driven Consumer, we are excited this year as we will be producing new resources, company profiles, and further tools to help you, the consumer!

If you remember toward the end of the 2011, Faith Driven Consumer produced a Christmas Shopping Guide to highlight top retailers during the Christmas shopping season. With more than 300 downloads for our shopping guide, we are encouraged to prepare and share more guides for the future. We were also pleased to be featured by the American Family Association and the Family Research Council.

For a quick recap of Christmas sales, did you know that Christmas sales increased 15 percent during the same time period of 2010 between November 1, 2011 and December, 26, 2011? Sales online during that period were $35.3 billion, which is a huge increase from the past few years.  Also, in December, consumer spending increased 4.7 percent from the same period in 2010.

These numbers show that consumer spending is on the rise, especially as we enter into 2012. Faith Driven Consumer strongly encourages you to thoughtfully consider your spending decisions this year and support companies that are faith-friendly.

You can let us know what you would like to see from Faith Driven Consumer during 2012 and which companies you would like to have insight into before spending your money! Let us know by leaving a comment or contacting us by clicking here. Also be sure to subscribe to us to receive updates on new resources by clicking here.

We look forward to another year as we encourage consumers to consider their Biblical worldview when shopping and companies to listen to the needs, wants and preferences of these consumers.