Make a Difference Monday Part 1:: Christmas in August!!

Even though it's still hitting the 100's daily....I have been thinking about Christmas for several weeks. If we aren't careful about time it will speed past us and then, we will turn around and that old fat man will be "Ho ho ho" ing all over the place!!! Money will be tight and time will be tighter.

In 1977 I was 25 months old at Christmas. . . The day I met with Santa that year, I must have been hungry. I only asked Santa for two things. Ice Cream & Hotdogs. Christmas morning under my tree I found....why...that jolly old elf had been so nice to this little girl!!! There was a rocking horse and Hotdogs and Icecream. Children have such simple wishes, don't they?
Our wishes get much less simple as we age. In 1993 I was a teenager and at the height of a very self-centered streak...(almost all teenagers are self-centered to some extent..it's part of growing up!) Our first period class chose to sponsor a large family of 6 at Christmas. For some reason, our teacher had another student and myself drop the items off. When I took the items to the family's trailer to drop them off I dropped off a giant ham and all the trimmings for a very NICE Christmas dinner, roughly $100.00 in Gift Certificates from Kroger for future groceries, a coat for each person, an outfit for each person and a toy or two per child.

I don't remember why I was elected to play elf-girl but I'm glad that I was. That really affected me. How awesome was it for those parents to be able to give their children a Christmas because of the kindness of others?

I feel burdened...as I said yesterday...God has been speaking to me, so I am challenging myself and I want to share my challenge with you: Encourage a group you are a part of to adopt a family for Christmas and really do it up for the family. In this area I understand an organization called HUGS handles that and I have looked for a link for them for days, hopefully someone "in the know" will comment or email and let me know contact information so that people involved in other churches can participate too if they are looking for a program like this

Imagine how much stuff you would be able to stock up for Christmas giving if you start using coupons & shopping sales now. The challenge is not to just stock up random items but try to stock as many of the "Essentials" as possible before Christmas time giving gets underway.

I think I may just save my items and give them to the church to choose distribution to fill in holes depending on what the church chooses as their goal.


What a Glory to God it will be when that family receives a gift basket from the church that contains not only a BUNCH of food but also toothpaste, mouth wash, dental floss, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, body wash/soap, etc. and then because you were able to stretch your charity budget that much farther just using coupons, maybe there will be an extra toy or so in there for their babies.

Looking for a way to adopt a family? Gladeville Baptist Church does this every Christmas & Thanksgiving. Please feel free to contact the church at (615) 444 - 9550 to see about donating and helping meet the needs of people within this community!


Not from this community? Check with your local churches & Department of Human Services to locate an organization that may offer the same thing. I don't know about you folks, but I am super excited about this Holiday Season!!!


Please find a way to bless a teacher this week. It doesn't have to be anything big, but please take the time to write a note or buy a .49 pack of pens during the back to school sales and send them to a teacher.