Most people think of Christmas as a time to give and receive gifts, without realizing the true Gift that Christmas really is! We all want to celebrate this special time of year with family, friends, food and fun.
There are many things we can do that show our love for each other - regardless of our financial situation. In fact, many holidays have been made more special when the gifts and traditions are spiritual, from the heart, and require little more than our most precious resource - our time.
For those families that are "spread out" and cannot afford to gather together, remember what Jesus said:
Ideas for spending Christmas together include:
Hopefully, there are at least a few people from every family living in the same place. If you find yourself in a city away from loved ones, find some members of your extended family - the church.
Christ never intended for you to be alone, especially in celebration of His birth, so come to His party! Where is it? Well, everywhere, of course. Seek and ye shall findGo to the RockWe are Family!!! You found us, didn't you?
Instead of making Christmas expensive, make it memorable. Instead of the latest trend, make it personal. Instead of credit-bought, make it love-bought.
There are many ways to tell someone you love them that don't really cost much at all. Here are a couple:
For the computer-savvy, there are great, free art sites that you can copy stuff from. A couple of these include 1clipart.com and dgl.microsoft.com.
For crafts, ornaments and other decorations, allfreecrafts.com is a good source for all ages (and all abilities!). For kid-friendly ideas, try amazingmoms.com. Don't forget to give back to these free sites. If you have an original idea, or an improvement to one already listed there, share it!
Finally, if you are financially blessed, and want to do something meaningful, you can always find ways to make giving to charity more personal. At the Rock, you can donate to the np3 project (maybe buy a brick in someone else's name?), or give to the "Toys for Joy" Christmas outreach.
Maybe somebody on your list would enjoy something from the Rockpile Store. This way you could bless that person and support the ministry at the same time. A great item to look into is the new Rock 2004 desktop calendars created by the photo ministry.
If you give of yourself as well as your money, you will often find that you have received something worth more than anything money can buy - a heart full of love.