Christmas Season has started.  At least in our home it has. The Christmas tree is up, our presents for the most part are bought and we are ready.  Yes, its only November.

Here is the kicker, how many of us are this ready for Christmas? Why do we Celebrate Christmas? For us, it’s the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s the King of Kings, who would then save us from ours sins. Christmas in our home is a celebration of the birth. The beginning of learning about Jesus and why he was born.

Christmas always brings the best out in people, whether you believe in the  Holy God or not. People will do more acts of generosity during this time. Christians for some reason, this brings out the best in us.

If we want to give, how do we decide? I mean there are a million charities across the nation, a  million ways to give. Its easy to overlook those in need and justify your wants as needs.  What is God calling of you to do?

This is where a story that happened to us comes in. We were in the first year of me being a stay at home mom. We had no money for Christmas. Very few people knew of what was going on in our financial situation. We didn’t brag about being broke.  We had two children and literally no money. We were deciding whether to do Christmas or not with the kids. They were young and wouldn’t remember. I had Christmas’ as a young teenager with no gifts, that didn’t stop my family from celebrating the true meaning of Christmas.

I was opening Christmas Cards during nap time. I normally worked out during that time and was just finishing up my workout. Mail time was always depressing during this season. But I love Christmas and the cards would bring a little cheer into my day. I just sat and randomly opened cards. Smiling at the faces we knew, loving the updates on families. Opened up a non-photo card, which you rarely get these days. I just read the front, it said something about Jesus for is reason for the season, I can’t remember. I opened the card and $ 500 spilled out in cash.

I was stunned.

I mean stunned.

I sat and cried. I called my husband and he sat in his office stunned.

At first, it was so hard to believe. We had never experienced a blessing of this magnitude in our life from a random person. You see, the card wasn’t signed by a person, but by Jesus.

We then decided to bless another family with part of the money, who then decided they were not in as much need as another family they knew. So, they sent a similar card with part of the money in it. You see one person’s obedience to the Lord, blessed three families that Christmas. To this day, I still don’t know who did it. I know God put it on that person’s heart, they wanted Him to get the glory.

In our family, we continue to do something every Christmas. I will not list what we do because it takes away from God’s glory. But listen times are hard for a lot of people in your community. If God is putting on your heart to do something here are ways you can help:

1. Go to your local K-mart, Wal-Mart or any type of store that does layaway and make a payment on someone’s account randomly. Don’t know how?  Here is a link of someone already doing it. Donate now: http://www.gofundme.com/layawayangels

2. As a group of friends, find a family and send a local grocery store card for their holiday meal.

3. Pay for the person’s drink in the Starbucks line behind you.

4. Ask your waiter to find a check in a restaurant and pay for their meal.

5. If you know a friend struggling to afford bills much less Christmas, send money from God.

6. Give to your local mealsite, soup kitchen, with your time, talents, or money.

7. Volunteer to be the bell ringer for the salvation army bucket: http://salarmymokan.org/?gclid=CNGBwoKBjbsCFVFgMgod2zgAFg

8. Operation Christmas Child with Samaritans purse…build a box online for a child in another country:http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

9. Go help a widow in your neighborhood and help them with something around their house.

10. Be Christlike. Read your bible. It will tell you how Christ acted and did things. Start with the gospel of Matthew.

Shine your light this Christmas Season.

Luke 2:11 ” For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”