It’s that time of year again when my family takes our annual evening drive to see the houses with the crazy display of Christmas lights and decorations.
You’ll find the usual suspects: Santa, his reindeer, Charlie Brown and gang, Frosty the Snowman, Mickey and Minnie, the Abominable Snowman and enough lights to trigger a massive power outage.
But there is one particular house that amuses me the most. It’s the next-door neighbor displaying a sign with lights that spell out the word “Ditto.” That’s it — “Ditto.”
While we get a kick out of seeing it, I think it’s a good example of where a lot of us find ourselves during Christmastime. We too often end up going through the motions, just trying to get by. As a result, we miss out on the blessings and opportunities to enjoy the true reason for the season.
Savor the season
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are three ways to savor this time of year:
- Love our neighbors.
I recently shared with my wife that it seemed like most of the couples in our Sunday School class had something big going on — job loss, family drama and various other personal challenges.
In addition to helping with our church’s food pantry, our class is taking up a collection of gift cards for a few of the families who are struggling with a particularly tight budget.
We also helped one couple with their move into a more affordable apartment. My family sends Christmas cards to some of the widows in our church to let them know we’re thinking of them.
You don’t have to look too hard to find a way to show kindness.
- Think global.
Beyond your local community, there are a lot of missionaries needing financial support. Don’t let the expenses of the season keep you from investing in missions.
When I worked for nearly a decade with the International Mission Board’s media department, I had the opportunity to travel and see the ministry and needs of missionaries overseas. This year’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has a national goal of $196 million — an amount that takes all of us pitching in to accomplish.
Check out the Week of Prayer stories on The Baptist Paper website Dec. 4-11 (and in our Dec. 8 issue) and pray about how you can help.
- Decorate with the birth of Christ in mind.
You’ll find a lot of memories on our Christmas tree. There’s a Route 66 ornament recognizing our family’s two-week, 5,000-mile road trip out west a few years ago. There’s an ornament for the pesky skunk that we carefully removed after it got into our crawl space. There also is an ornament displaying a roll of toilet paper for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when we drove all around town searching for routine household items that were selling out.
But there are also ornaments that represent the birth of Christ, missions and the hope only He can provide. There is the handmade butterfly-shaped ornament I purchased from a poor, elderly woman while on an overseas assignment in East Asia. It’s a reminder of the poverty and spiritual darkness around the globe.
Serve and minister
I hope you have an ornament or Scripture verse in your house to remind you to serve and minister to others this Christmas.
Over the next couple of weeks, we have an opportunity to put away our “Ditto” signs and make this Christmas season especially meaningful.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This first-person article was written by Shawn Hendricks, director of product management for TAB Media.
