WAYS TO BLESS OTHERS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!
by Sheri Graham

• Visit a local nursing home as a family and sing Christmas carols to the residents.

• Cook some meals for a family in need (single parent, elderly person, family dealing with medical issues or a family crisis, etc.)

• Make up a bunch of gifts in a jar (see awesome link above to some great recipes!) and have these on hand to give out to anyone who visits your home during the month of December.

• I have started somewhat of a tradition...if anyone visits our home the day I'm baking bread, a loaf is sent home with the visitor! Why not share some of your home-baked goods with visitors...they will be blessed!

• Choose a missionary family to send a gift package to.

• Gather the kids in the kitchen and have a baking day! Choose several different cookie recipes and have fun filling up Christmas plates with goodies. Wrap in red or green saran wrap and top with a bow and homemade gift tag (see link above for free program you can download to make your own gift tags!) Deliver these to neighbors, widows (Many elderly would LOVE to have some home-made goodies. Many aren't able to bake like they used to and really be blessed by your goodies!), friends, etc. Use as an outreach opportunity and attach a homemade Christmas card with the message of salvation included.

• Choose a charity to give to this holiday season...such as Samaritan Purse or World Vision. There are many to choose from. Our family enjoys browsing through the Samaritan Purse catalog and choosing projects to give money towards. It helps our children to really understand where their money is going when they purchase a water filter so a family can have pure water, or buy blankets to keep families warm, or buy a goat so a family can have fresh milk, etc. It is so much fun to GIVE....get your kids involved and you WILL be blessed!

• Choose a family in need (one in your church or community) who may not have alot of money to buy gifts. Purchase gifts for them, wrap them, and deliver a gift to their home every few days during the month of December. Leave the gifts on their step to surprise them...or deliver them all at once.

I'm sure you and your family will come up with MANY more ways to GIVE to others this holiday season. There is so much JOY in giving! We have SO MUCH...why not give some away to others and bless them...you will be blessed in return!

The Lord has provided opportunity this week for me to give away a loaf of bread to a mom who visited my home, 4 meals to feed the family of a dear friend who is having surgery this week, and a Gift in a Jar (yummy brownies!) to a lady who came to our home to give me a medical exam (I am switching life insurance). None of these people expected these gifts...they were given out of my desire to give to others because of how MUCH He has given me. They were not given to exalt myself, but to exalt and glorify Him, who put the desire in my heart in the first place.

How about you? Over the next weeks, look for those opportunities that the Lord puts in your path to give and bless others. I think you will surprised how MUCH you have to give and how BLESSED you will be in return.

THERE IS JOY IN SERVING JESUS!