What if we showed up for life?

Dan and I thought up a brilliant idea. 

During this COVID holiday season—since we won’t be gathering with our kids and grands—what if we did at least one act of service or giving on each of the 25 days leading up to Christmas? 

 

What could that look like?

For us, it looks like arranging to pick up a truckload of firewood from a local woodlot ministry and delivering it to a single mom.

 

Purchasing Christmas stocking gifts for the residents at Shepherd’s House women’s center—socks, books, chocolates, small stuffed animals.

 

Delivering homemade banana bread to a single male friend who is challenged with mobility.

Setting up the shower truck at the newly-opened winter emergency shelter.

Baking treats for the carpenters framing our new addition in the below-freezing weather (some might call it bribery).

 

Delivering Christmas wreaths to lovely widows—some of them facing their first holiday season without a husband.

Dropping off coffee shop gift cards for cancer center staff at the hospital.

 

This thought from Kristi McLelland:

Hold your space. Show up for your own life – whole-hearted, fully present, all in.

There are people whose professions call for “whole-hearted, fully present” living during this chaotic season: 

Medical professionals and first responders. Teachers. Social workers. Ministers, priests, and rabbis. Those of you transporting goods and stocking shelves and working cash registers so the rest of us have access to the essentials. You who are sacrificing to work with the homeless, the displaced, the marginalized, the mentally ill. 

You are already showing up whole-heartedly for life in your work and volunteerism.

For the rest of us ordinary, non-hero types who want to sprinkle love and make a difference and make some joy during a challenging time, there’s the gift of being creative and kind—a gift we give to ourselves as well as to others.

What if?

There’s a familiar verse from John 3:16 that reads:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

What if we could be proactive in looking for opportunities to give of ourselves during this giving season when the greatest gift of all was God sending his only Son to show up on earth to reconnect us with our Creator?

What if we could put together craft kits for a home-schooling family? Knit scarves or hats for the homeless? Mail a hand-written note to encourage someone who’s lonely, ill, or carries a broken heart?

 

Our “25 Days of Christmas” scheme is keeping Dan and me engaged and proactive during this family holiday interlude … in which we won’t be celebrating with family.

Not surprisingly, this new tradition has generated much joy. And exhilarating fun.

Side note

When I say something like, “Dan and I thought up a brilliant idea,” it usually means I have the creative part covered and he brings the logic to the game by letting me know where it could go sideways. Together we tweak the brilliant idea … and then move forward.

See how that works?