'Tis The Season...For Giving!
Posted by Martha & Greg Singleton , Wednesday, November 28, 2007 12:22 PM
A few weeks ago, we asked you to share with us ways that you’ve found to share God’s love as a family during the holiday season. We received so many great stories, and we thought it would be good to share a few of them with everyone.
“Something we do as a family to minister to others is making chicken soup! We shop for the ingredients together, prepare it and deliver it together. My mother did this, too, and I wanted to pass it along to my children. My mom used to make everything homemade, like bread, and dessert, too. Well, I still make the soup, but we buy the dessert and bread at Costco and I don't feel guilty in the least!”
This contribution was from someone who works with a ministry that organized this outreach to the needy...
“We asked churches to put together bags of hygiene products to give to local homeless shelters. The packets contained full size shampoo, bar of soap and soap dish, brush, comb, toothpaste, toothbrush, lotion and deodorant. The idea was that each ‘guest’ at a shelter could receive his or her own packet of products to clean up with. Each packet also contained a Bible and a package of underwear. We asked participants to buy the underwear in the size of the individual making the packet. We got many responses from parents who said that they had a wonderful time as a family shopping for the items for the packet, and how it impacted their children to put ‘child size’ underwear into those packets The kids would have an understanding that there were children their age and size that didn’t have a home or bed. Many said that they were planning to continue to do these packets on a quarterly basis, picking up a few items every time they went shopping and making the packets together as a family to take to the shelter!”
“Every year, my dad and I would participate in a soup kitchen together. At first, I was uneasy and uncertain, but I began to model his confidence and compassion and was able to focus on serving and those being served. Our whole family was part of a mass-assembly of thanksgiving dinner bags. We worked with several other families to make sure that each bag had a frozen turkey and all the necessary fixin's. Then, as a family, we would go out and present these ‘dinners in a bag’ to families identified through our church as being in need. We did this at Christmas, too, and took gifts along with the food.”
“We once had three Chinese international students from a local college over for Thanksgiving, and it was a great experience. International students really appreciate being part of a family for holidays. They are very curious about American home life and customs, but often don't have an opportunity to see the inside of an American home. It was also a great chance to expose our kids to another culture. Kids tend to build bridges quickly and make the whole experience much easier and more enjoyable for all.”
“Living near an Air Force base afforded us a unique opportunity to serve together as a family. During Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, the base published a list of trainees that were available to visit the homes in the areas. These were very young men and women, most in their late teens and early twenties, who may have been away from home for the first time in their lives. They had been undergoing the rigors of basic training, but had time off during the holidays. Most of them were needing not only a nice home-cooked meal, but also the comfort and refreshment of spending some time in a family setting. We would pick them up at the base and bring them home with us. We all took special care to show them God’s love and our family’s appreciation for their service to our country.”
Here’s a family ministry that lasted far longer than just the holiday season...
“We discovered ‘houseparenting’. This is where a stable couple with their children moves onto a campus of 'children's homes' and lives in a group home with the children already there and becomes their foster family. Now, this decision did not come without a lot of prayer and guidance from the Lord and was definitely a life altering choice. But, after interviewing with several Christian organizations we discovered one nearby that we truly loved. We were offered the position after they interviewed us as a family. It required giving up our home, full time job and income, lifestyle, church family and most of our furnishings and moving into a very small 3 bedroom apartment attached to the cottage which would be the foster children's home. There were twelve boys living in the eight- bedroom cottage, all under the age of 12. And so our life as a full time foster family began. Our life revolved around a daily routine of waking at 6:00 am to prepare breakfast for seventeen, dressing them all for school, getting them on the bus and off to school. There were also regular visits with doctors, dentists, therapists, psychiatrists, and family visits with the foster children’s biological parents at times. After school there were scheduled activities to attend with the boys (in which our children were also involved), which included a 4-H program on the campus and animals to tend to, basketball games, karate classes, camps and field trips. We cooked dinner together and ate at 6:00 pm followed by clean up and mandatory study hall in the campus library or around the dinner table. Then, showers and bedtime and prayers were said at each bedside. We kissed our own children good night and quickly fell asleep to begin it all again the next day.”
“This family tradition was actually started in a large Sunday school class I taught (a singles class with over 2000 members, but average attendance of about 700...fun class), but it has become a standard for my family. I found a hole in my favorite sweater one icy Sunday morning while I was getting ready for church and the class I was to teach. I threw it away almost immediately, but then felt that I should take it with me to class. I thought there might be a message in finding a hole in my seven-year-old favorite sweater. I took it to the class, talked about the inconveniences and frustrations that enter our lives and told the class that I intended to give it to a homeless person when I left the church. Then I suggested, ‘Why don't you go home and find the coats that have shrunk due to darkness in your closet, meet me at Denny's for coffee and pie, and we can take all our coats to the homeless shelter.’ That afternoon, we delivered over 75 coats to the shelter, enjoyed coffee and pecan pie together and went home to our fireplaces and football games. Now that my sons are grown and live nearby, we often call them on cold days, invite them over for coffee and pie, suggest that they find the shrunken coats, theirs and the grandchildren's, and we deliver them to the shelter.”
We can’t teach our kids about giving with just words alone. They have to see that kind of Christ-like love and be a part of it. For all the people who shared their stories, giving became real and alive. That’s what makes it attractive to our families. Start a family tradition of giving this Christmas season!
