2009 was a life-changing year for me as I married the love of my life, Kara. This has been the greatest year of my life and this Christmas I thank God for the many blessings in my life.

This year was also a banner year for me professionally. I have seen my "online footprint" grow exponentially and I am continually amazed at how social media has powerfully changed my career path. It is easy for us social savvy politicos to get caught up in the narcissism of the internet - I am as guilty as anyone. Social media is a great tool to drive personal and professional ambition, but it's even more powerful when it is used to change the world.

That's why I am excited about donating to Charity Water - a charity whose goal is to provide clean, safe drinking water for everyone on the planet. A lofty, but certainly worthy goal. My friend Kevin Cate has already raised $550 through his online footprint on Facebook and Twitter.

I did the math - if every one of my Facebook friends and Twitter followers gave just $5 to Charity Water, we would raise more than $26,000 providing clean water to more than 1,400 people for 20 years! And that's just my small online footprint. Imagine if we all encouraged our online footprints to do the same - give $5 to change lives around the world.

We have been given so much, now it's time to use our social networks to encourage others to give back.