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Random Acts of Christmas Kindness

Sometimes, I find myself getting so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season that I get stressed out. Between buying gifts, attending parties and keeping up with our advent calendar, it is easy to lose track of what is important about the holidays: spreading the love of Christ. Since the kids are getting older, it is a great time to begin talking to them about community service and giving back. This year, I made it my goal to develop two different kindness activities that the kids can participate in.

Nursing Home Visit

The first act was not necessarily "random," but it has a great lesson with it. On a fairly regular basis, we have discussions in our house about being thankful and about people who have less than we do. These conversations are strengthened through missionary work the kids see happen through the church. However, I wanted to take it a step further this year and talk about how people who have less than we (not just financially) but in terms of family and friends. We are extremely blessed to have a huge family and many friends that we consider family to spend the holidays with, but not everyone is so lucky. Each week in our church bulletin, there is a reminder to pray for congregation members who are in the nursing home and assisted living which sparked my plan for our nursing home visit. The nursing home in Holyoke (Regent Park Nursing Home) has approximately 20 residents, and while there are many community organizations who help spread Christmas cheer there, I can't imagine being away from family during the holidays. To help brighten their days, I decided we should color pictures and make cards to deliver. As we started talking about this project, Bah remembered going to the nursing home to read stories to the residents during kindergarten, so I was happy she could make that connection. Once we arrived to deliver our pictures though (which was later than I anticipated because we have been fighting the stomach flu since Thanksgiving), all three kids became shy. :) Still, I hope the pictures and cards brightened the residents' day.



Candy Cane Bomb Parking Lot

In a small town, there are very few business parking lots that fill up with more than 15 cars, so when I read the idea of candy cane bombing a parking lot, I almost ignored it. Then I remember that high school basketball season has started and would fill the school parking lots with at least 75 vehicles. This week, there is a home game against the county rival which would be a perfect time to spread a little Christmas cheer. The kids and I bundled up, bought a few packages of candy canes, and put them on door handles and windshields of the cars. This was a fun event because even Bubs could be involved. It was simple, inexpensive, and fun, so it will definitely be a keeper.





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