Thank you for allowing me to give.

This year was one of our best Christmas seasons ever. My wife has a beautiful heart and a compassionate soul. For the last two years, she has helped identify a family that we would help be a blessing to over the Christmas season.

We identified some immediate needs in a family who lives very near us. They have  a total of 6 people (mom, dad +4 boys) living in a two room apartment with two beds. The boys were drastically under-prepared for the winter weather and the family just has some general needs as the mom recently had to spend some time in the hospital.

With the help of family and friends, we pulled together to make sure every member of the family had winter clothes (coat, hat, mittens and boots) as well as providing some household supplies that were much needed.

Helping to make this all happen was the decision to not exchange presents with the adults in my family, and a scaled back Christmas on my wife’s side. Also, we were fortunate to receive several gift cards before Christmas that we were able to turn around and use on for this family.

But we couldn’t do it alone. Awesome friends stepped up and supplied many of the needs. Other friends donated cash…and amazingly, it all came together. There was nothing left on the list left to buy.

I’m not saying all this to pat myself on the back…rather, the most amazing thing happened when we returned home from our family trip for Christmas in St. Louis.

We came home to 2 thank you cards.

Not from the family we helped…but from families who got to help. Literally, two people sent us thank you cards, thanking us for inviting them to help make Christmas special for somebody else.

That is Christmas.

That is what means to experience the joy of giving.

It is to be thankful for the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.

I hope our tradition of being a blessing to another family will continue for years to come.

Who is waiting to be asked?

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that there is somebody in your life, in your ministry, in your circle of friends, who is sitting on the sidelines, waiting to be asked. They are simply waiting for someone to point at them and ask the question, “Can you help?”

Give people the option to participate in something bigger.