Welcome!
This is Day 19 of the 21 Days to a Stress Free & Debt Free Christmas. I’m so excited that you are joining me for what I hope will be a really helpful series designed to walk with you step by step through the Christmas season in a way that ensures you keep your sanity and that you don’t overspend.
Today, we’re going to get a little more serious and talk about 10 ways you can serve at Christmas.
It’s amazing how much I learn from my children. Since they are only 5,3, and 1, I know it’s only just beginning. As my kids grow and develop, the conversations we have continue to go deeper and deeper. It’s fun, but also challenging when they question every…single…thing.
As of now, we don’t have any official ways of conversing with our kids about Christmas. I wish I could say that we have these wonderful traditions with the advent calendar and Jesse tree, but those haven’t happened yet. I’m thinking maybe next year may be our year – ha! In the meantime, I’m thankful for Lisa-Jo’s article about the topic.
Our children believe in Santa, although we as parents don’t really talk about him much at home (it’s mostly family or, believe it or not, strangers). Although we don’t dislike Santa, I desperately want them to know that Santa is not what Christmas is all about.
Since I believe that Jesus is THE Savior, I want HIM to be the main event at Christmas. We do what we can to instill that in the hearts and minds of our kids, but I’m sure we miss the mark a lot.
In talking with our children one day about Christmas being Jesus’ birthday, I told them that I thought it was interesting that we are the ones who get to open presents.
Isn’t that cool?, I may have even remarked.
But when I really think about it, it really is a little ironic and even sad that Jesus has the birthday and yet we are the ones who receive gifts. The idea got me thinking. And I asked my kids a simple question – What can we give Jesus for his birthday? We talked a little about it, so the dialogue has begun with them, but I thought it was an important topic to mention here.
When I think about gifts we can give Jesus, words like service and love come to mind. The Bible talks all about loving our neighbors and how when we serve “the least of these,” we are serving him.
As we get close to wrapping up this Christmas series, I hope you will consider asking yourself and your family what gifts you might give to Jesus this year on his birthday. Here are some ideas that might be helpful as you think about this for your and your family.
1. Being “Santa” for a family in need
2. Sending an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox
3. Bring baked goods to your local first responders
4. Distributing blessing bags to the homeless
5. Serve a meal at a homeless shelter
6. Leave anonymous gifts around your community
7. Make a charitable donation to a cause you love
8. Pay for a person in line in front of or behind you
9. Send a handwritten note to a person that has been on your heart
10. Bring a meal to someone who has had a challenging week
The options really are endless with this. If you can, I’d encourage you to include this sort of activity on your Christmas bucket list and include some money for this in your budget. It’s great to develop the habit of being cheerful and generous givers. But even if you don’t have the extra funds, there are so many things you could do that are either free or cost very little. Isn’t it just so fun to give?! And what a fun thing to be able to do together as a family.
RELATED POSTS:
How to Throw a Birthday Party for Jesus
Light Em Up: Families Light Up The Community with Kindness
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