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Show People a Different Christmas This Year
Two great ways to let others see what a meaningful holiday looks like.
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On television Saturday night, a two-minute commercial announced the availability of a new Christmas music collection from all my favorite artists. How they knew all my favorite artists remains a mystery. At a recent children's ministry conference, I overheard three women discussing the need to develop Christmas plans soon. They want to make this Christmas special, even though the rest of their church's plans will remain a mystery for many more weeks. Yes, the Christmas season will arrive soon. You'll see it in full swing within a few weeks, or less, to entice the maximum amount of purchases—and stimulate the economy, of course. At the same time, more people (Christians and non-Christians) than ever before will long for Christmas to look different. How that can happen typically remains a mystery. So nothing changes. I confess that I'm tired of wanting Christmas to happen differently, and equally fatigued at telling others about the virtue of doing Christmas with more meaning. Can you relate? Maybe showing people is the way to go. A wise person once told me, "Many things can change as a result of one person who decides to change." You'll blink and Christmas will be here, so now's the time to decide. So here are two ideas. One involves your gift-giving; the other involves your time. First, try sending a Christmas gift that has rich meaning and value—but doesn't cost much. It's possible. Imagine that in lieu of the same old Christmas card or a retail gift card, you receive an attention-capturing card from someone that says in your honor, an at-risk child somewhere in this country will receive a month of hope and love. Would you feel good that someone decided to not spend money on you and, instead, a child will be given what she needs most in life—a person to love her? Absolutely. In fact, you might even ask the person who sends you that card why and how they decided to do Christmas a little different. Of all the gifts you receive, that gift would be the one you remember most. Receiving that gift would make you feel great. This Christmas, you could be the person who sends "that gift." Yes you. Kids Hope USA developed an alternative Christmas giving program called "That gift." Click here to visit our website for details on how you can order a set of 12 cards, each representing a month of hope and love provided for an at-risk, elementary school child. Then send a card to family and friends. Think for a moment about the profound message you'll share with such a gift. Then picture the child whose life will change because you decided to do Christmas different this year. Now for the second idea. Contact a local mission agency, homeless shelter, or facility that houses women and children. Find out when they expect to have few or no volunteers and sign up to serve a meal—you and your family. |        
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