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.
Many of these organizations struggle to find help for Christmas Eve dinner or any time Christmas Day. Why? Because families typically gather for their own celebrations and meals. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But, imagine what it would mean to the staff of those agencies (they must fill the voids and work hard), and to the people they serve, when you and your family decide to celebrate with them. To give the gift of time, valuable family time, might create the richest Christmas you’ve ever experienced. To inconvenience yourself for others shows the value you place on people.
When my family teamed with another family to work at a women and children shelter, we made inexpensive gift bags for the kids. For most of them, this would be their only gift. One mom told us that the gift bags were special because we personally handed them to her kids and her kids could say thank you. And everyone exchanged smiles.
Could that have been a modern-day glimpse of good news of great joy for all people?
Again, hope and love wins every time over gift cards and other purchases, and serving a meal leaves a wonderful taste long after the holidays disappear. And the reason is no mystery.
Just start planning now. If you wait much longer, Christmas will happen as usual.
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David Staal, senior editor of Today’s Children’s Ministry, serves as the president of Kids Hope USA, a national non-profit organization that partners local churches with elementary schools to provide mentors for at-risk students. Prior to this assignment, David led Promiseland, the children’s ministry at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. David is the author of Words Kids Need to Hear (2008) and lives in Grand Haven, Michigan, with his wife Becky, son Scott, and daughter Erin. Interested in David speaking at your event? Click here
©2010, David Staal
