Hello! It’s hard to believe it’s the last day of November, but here we are! I’m not as far along as I thought I’d be with my Christmas preparations right now…(thanks to a mean stomach bug that hit early Tuesday morning). But I’m on the uphill mend, so I’m not going to complain about such a small setback to my plans.
The fall season with it’s unrivaled beauty and emphasis on thanksgiving is always my favorite time of year; it leads naturally into the Christmas season where we concentrate on lighting our homes and our lives and the lives of our loved ones, friends, neighbors, and community members.
Each year I write a special Christmas post for the blog (which I will do again
this year), but I’m excited to share some wonderful ideas with you now at the beginning of the season that you and your friends and family will be able to use throughout this Christmas–time to serve and bring more light into the world.
I know that sometimes amid the decorating and gift-making and shopping I feel a little overwhelmed and discouraged at times, thinking that my gifts aren’t good enough. It is during those times that I need to remember that this season is truly about giving, bringing light and love and friendship and compassion to the world. And more than that, I need to remember that we can do these things in such simple ways: by giving a smile, by saying kind words, by being a peacemaker with those around us…and the list goes on and on.
So while I’m decorating the house and the tree and finishing up last minute gifts, I’m also going to be participating in the #LIGHTtheWORLD activities as much as I can.
You can watch the informational #LIGHTtheWORLD video below, and go here to see more videos and to find out more about all of the ways you can help #LIGHTtheWORLD this Christmas season. I feel like this is such a great opportunity for people of all faiths from all over the world to unite in making our world a better place.
And there is also a wonderful “In 25 Ways over 25 Days” Advent Calendar you can download and print here. For each of the first 25 days of December this Advent calendar helps you to focus on a different Christ-like behavior and provides suggestions you can implement into your daily life. The program begins tomorrow, December 1st with a worldwide day of service event and follows with topics like feeding the hungry, praying for others, visiting the lonely, showing compassion, showing gratitude, and being a Peacemaker.
While I’m hoping to do some small thing each day for every category, I’ve decided being a Peacemaker is the topic I’m going to concentrate on all season long. It’s so easy to give a smile to a stranger, to respond kindly to a store clerk or customer, or even to have patience when driving in the holiday traffic. One of the ideas on the Advent calendar for this topic is to say nice things behind people’s backs…I’ve also thought about calling each of my kids and mentioning good things their siblings are doing that they might not know about.
With these wonderfully simple and simply wonderful ideas I’m hoping to make this my best Christmas season ever!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Knitwit Quilter says
Thank you for the video. Thank you for the tips, ideas, and encouragement on quilting. Enjoy the 25 days of advent.
Little Quiltsong says
Thank you, Sherri – for the lovely video and your post. I want to concentrate more on patience and understanding. It is so easy to get overwhelmed with all the preparations that the real reason for the season gets lost. I finally found a hospital close by that has a NICU unit and Pediatric Ward where I can donate my baby quilts to. It has become my little Mission. Loved seeing the face of the person accepting the baby quilts and my hope and prayer is just that each little person getting one of these quilts also receives a blessing along with it.
Hildy says
Today something amazing happend to me. The woman in front of me in the cash line gave a 10% off coupon just because she had several and she want to make someone happy. I reward her kindness towards me I'll do something good tomorrow for another person and perhaps this person will then do something good too. I like that thought:-)
Quilt Fabric Pizazz says
Great post, but do you have something to post for Hanukah and Ramadan? We are a multi cultural country, so it would be nice to post for all of your blog followers. Happy Holidays.
Gmama Jane says
Wow, that video put the Christmas Season into perspective. I loved it. Although I have serious disagreements with Mormon Theology, the Mormon church knows how to do a video and/or commercial. Like you said, it is a wonderful time to make peace within our families, neighborhood, communitit's and our country. I am a born again evangelical Christian and have attended a Southern Baptist church all my life. In fact, I used to be a youth Sunday School teacher/leader and taught a series of lessons each year on different faiths. Having more and more Mormon and Muslim students attending their schools made them quite curious as to what each faith believed. Of course, before you can learn about and compare different faith systems meant a deep study into what they as members of a Southern Baptist student believed…what were absolutes and what were just different worship styles. So, I researched Mormon Theology and even asked a couple of Mormon friends to speak to our group. These were young adults who had recently returned from their required 2 yrs missionary journey. We akl had some amazing discussions but the most startling aspect was when I began asking questions based upon a video produced in conjunction with some of the highest Mormon leadership members explaining some of the more "shocking" (as I would term it)beliefs that are often not talked about outside the church. In fact, one of the young men became very concerned because what he heard from one of your leaders, whose name escapes me but it was 20 yrs ago, was saying to the video producer involving celestial heavens, becoming a god, children and families having their own planet, was Not what he had been taught. He did later confirm with me that the info on the video was indeed correct. I would love to be able to sit down with you, have a cup of coffee, bring out our needle and thread, and have you give me your explanation for all that I read and learned. I am a 30+ yr veteran teacher and I am always questioning and learning. Thanks for allowing me to post. It wasn't exactly planned but once o got my mind activated my fingers stated typing.
Merry Christmas Sherri
GMAMA JANE
Marcelle says
I'm very touched by this. Thank you for sharing. I want to share the advent ideas with my kids. I love your posts. #LIGHTtheWORLD.
Rosemary B❤️ says
Beautiful blog post Sherri.
I love you and I love your blog.
You do not have to make blogs about Ramadan or Hanukkah, or "Kwanzaaa"
This is your blog, and I do not expect you to please everyone. You do please me ♥️
(sorry to those who are offended. It is time to grow up, and as the liberals say "move on" [well do that then!])
I love the projects that you shared and the inspiration to focus on others, serving others, and helping them.
Have a wonderful time preparing for Christmas. Life is good. God is good.
Michele says
What a beautiful post Sherri! As we begin this busy season, it's a wonderful idea to remember how important it is to be extra kind to others!