I have to admit that it took me some time to get into the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge, but I feel good about participating, even in my limited extent.
Yesterday my wife and I did some Christmas shopping for a refugee family from Myanmar that our small group at our church adopted for the Christmas holidays. Today, I hope a bunch of us will be able to go visit with them, to drop off the presents, and spend a little time getting to know them better.
It felt good looking for Christmas gifts like this with my wife, I enjoyed the opportunity to do some ministry for others with her as my partner. Looking back on the past year, I do not think I seized enough opportunities to minister as a couple as we should, for we are partners in life, and partners for life.
It has bothered me greatly for years the emphasis placed on gifts during Christmas, for I felt it was always more about what you get than what you give. This group of gifts is about what we are going to get, but this time it will feel right. Because we are going to get love and appreciation back from this family, not material presents. Although they may get some immediate needs met by our gifts, what they will give us will be truly lasting, the type of treasure one can store up in heaven. And as a result, I pray we give them back some of that treasure as well in addition to some nicely wrapped presents.
God has given me much knowledge over the years, He has also given me Jesus as Savior. What I pray for now is that He gives me even just a smattering of wisdom so I may cherish the other gifts He has lavishly bestowed on me in love. And today His love for my wife and I has given us the privilege of sharing that love with a family we would not even know existed if He did not put them squarely in our path.
Yesterday my wife and I did some Christmas shopping for a refugee family from Myanmar that our small group at our church adopted for the Christmas holidays. Today, I hope a bunch of us will be able to go visit with them, to drop off the presents, and spend a little time getting to know them better.
It felt good looking for Christmas gifts like this with my wife, I enjoyed the opportunity to do some ministry for others with her as my partner. Looking back on the past year, I do not think I seized enough opportunities to minister as a couple as we should, for we are partners in life, and partners for life.
It has bothered me greatly for years the emphasis placed on gifts during Christmas, for I felt it was always more about what you get than what you give. This group of gifts is about what we are going to get, but this time it will feel right. Because we are going to get love and appreciation back from this family, not material presents. Although they may get some immediate needs met by our gifts, what they will give us will be truly lasting, the type of treasure one can store up in heaven. And as a result, I pray we give them back some of that treasure as well in addition to some nicely wrapped presents.
God has given me much knowledge over the years, He has also given me Jesus as Savior. What I pray for now is that He gives me even just a smattering of wisdom so I may cherish the other gifts He has lavishly bestowed on me in love. And today His love for my wife and I has given us the privilege of sharing that love with a family we would not even know existed if He did not put them squarely in our path.
1 comment:
Awesome Andy!
Thanks for updating us.
Post a Comment