In the hustle and bustle of decorating the house, finding the perfect gifts, getting halfway decent family photos taken for cards and trying to actually get them mailed out, it's really easy to forget why we are celebrating to begin with. We are celebrating the birth of Christ! The Messiah! Our Savior!
Now that I'm a mom, it's even more important for me to find ways to make Christ the center of our traditions. I would love to tell you I came up with this idea while spending quiet time of reflection with God, but honestly it was a pin, of a pin, of a pin, from a friend on Pinterest. (If you're not on that site you should be! Email me and I'll invite you.)
The idea is so beautifully simple. Everyday in Advent you do something nice and unexpected for a stranger. What better way to give Jesus a birthday present than to do nice things for the people He loves? And get my family thinking about something other than what cool gift they want to receive.
Here is the original blog post that inspired me. {RACKS} Once I had the idea, my husband and I googled "random acts of kindess" and compiled a list of about 30 ideas we liked and are in our budget. My plan is to pray every morning that God would put someone in my path that needs a random blessing but if I don't see them then I have a standby list of things to pull from.
I gave a lot of thought about posting these because I don't want this to be about me. Matthew 6:3 "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" comes to mind. In the end I decided to go with Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." I would never have come up with this idea if someone else hadn't shared it first. I hope I can inspire someone else to start a similar tradition.
Happy Advent Everyone. Prepare the way of the Lord!
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