an excerpt from this week’s thort for the week that i send out with some ways you can really have a great Christmas…

The bottom line is you can get creative – i will share a few ideas here but it doesn’t take a brain scientist to work this out – look after the poor, needy, lonely, sick in some way this Christmas and share Christ’s love in action…

[1] Present-giving – as our main present-giving this year, tbV and myself will be buying something for the kids at the place of safety (uThando leNkosi) that we have been involved with over the last few years – we may still do something small for family and maybe some friends, but we want the bulk of our giving to go towards that place that is making a huge difference in the lives of children at risk. Pick a person or a family or an organisation that you know is in need and make a difference. It doesn’t have to be all the giving you do but at least let some of your giving this year be to someone needy or alone.

[2] Feasting – i learnt from my parents that Christmas can be a time of including others beyond yourselves and those close to you – every Christmas there are people who are going to be spending it alone – someone who has lost a wife or a husband this year, people in the local old age home, a single parent with her new child, someone you pass every day at the traffic light – and so why not add one person, or a few to whoever you were planning on having your Christmas eve, or Christmas lunch feast with. It might be a little more awkward or uncomfortable for you, but it could transform someone’s night and even life.

[3] Activity – for the last number of years we have had a tradition of making sandwiches on Christmas day or Boxing day and taking them out to homeless people in the area (the hardest part usually being finding any homeless people – when you look for them, they can be hard to find!) and so a bunch of people have donated or brought along bread and fillings and juices and so on and a bunch of people have volunteered their time to make the sandwiches and then drive around and distribute them – great group bonding activity for everyone involved but also an amazing way of keeping Christ-love in the centre of your Christmas celebrations – and it doesn’t have to be on Christmas day – pick a day in the holidays, grab some friends or family members, explain the deal and get going… another idea is taking some flowers and visiting some old people in the local seniors home or the hospital because both of those places have a lot of lonely people at Christmastime and short visit and simple gesture can make all the difference.

And so on. Get creative. And just do something. Don’t let this time be all about you and only those you love or are comfortable with. Ask God intentionally what kingdom stuff you can get up to and then involve others in it and spread the love.

And please let me hear the stories afterwards…