Jesusluvsall's Blog

Thanksgiving has come and gone and this morning the insanity of Black Friday shopping has commenced. Of course since I do not like shopping, this is a stay home day for me as in stay home, read a little, listen to some worship music, and later watch some football on TV. For me there is a certain irony involving Black Friday. Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving begins Christmas season, the weeks before celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus.

Seeing our culture through the eyes of newcomers to America is eye opening for me. Wednesday night I visited some friends from Iran. We talked about Black Friday and one of the first things mentioned was how dangerous it is. They talked about how a pregnant woman died because of getting trampled by the crowd trying to get in the store first.

Christmas is a time to reflect on and remember God’s love for us expressed through the miracle birth of Jesus. So I want to suggest some things for us to reclaim Christmas as a celebration of the birth of our Savior and please feel free to add to the list with your comments. Don’t get me wrong. I am not anti shopping for you just for me, but I also believe we can do better at celebrating the birth of our Savior.

We can do things like:

Spend more time with Jesus in prayer, reading the bible, and fellowship with other people who follow Jesus.

Take a friend out for coffee, hot chocolate etc. Think of a friend who is struggling in life whether because of illness, financial problems etc. Take them out for coffee and listen. Let them share their burden.

Visit someone in their home, perhaps an elderly neighbor, bring them a treat and stay a while.

Participate in an effort to bless children such as Angel Tree. Angel Tree is a ministry of people volunteering to buy gifts for a child of someone in prison. Volunteers can buy the gifts or help deliver the gifts and tell the child it is from the child’s parent.

Instead of spending X amount of money, spend less and give some money to a ministry or organization that helps people. One such ministry is Love Justice International that rescues children from human sex trafficking. There are so many other worthy ministries such as Samaritan’s Purse.

There are many other ways to share the love of our Savior this Christmas season and all year. Please add to the list with your comments.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.