The Christmas Gift Which Costs Nothing

Family and friends at Thanksgiving and Christmas…. Yes, most of us enjoy this blessing.  Sharing your heart and time with those around you is what happens every year.  Seeing relatives that you may not see for most of the year because of distance, both logistically and from past arguments or differences, allows all of us to repair that distance with the love of Christmas.

But what do you do when that distance has become too difficult to repair or an unwillingness to repair?  Many of us end up spending the holidays alone, perhaps with tears or just pure depression.  I wonder how much of the world falls into this sadness.  I’ve known this feeling, and how to climb out of this emotional emptiness is different for everyone.  Some have others who reach out to us.  Some of us just pray for Jesus to help.  Some just live with the sadness.  And sadly, others can’t deal with the loneliness and take steps which will end that loneliness permanently.  For all these groups, it can make that dark hole they find themselves in, challenging if not impossible to climb out of.

Why me?

Loneliness can be dark and cold.  Those who feel they have no one, wonder “why me?”.   Why am I not loved?  How did I get here?  For those who are not in this place, it is up to the rest of us to acknowledge them and shine Jesus’ light on that dark and cold place and let them feel the warmth we can bring.  It's up to those of us who are the Face of Jesus to identify those lonely ones around us and ensure they have us who they can call family, if even only for the time during the Christmas season.  We remember what Jesus said, “Come to me you who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you rest”. 

I had not planned on writing this article.  However, I fell into the first category of someone who had a friend reach out to me during Thanksgiving and allowed me to evade that unhappy feeling of not having a friend or family to share a meal or a happy time.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  It was quiet and low-key.  But it was everything to me!!  The family who invited me did not have to do so.  But I know Jesus was in their hearts and I know how blessed I am to have felt that love.

Next man up!!

But this cannot be the end of the story.  It’s my turn to pay it forward!!  It is my turn to reach out to someone.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be for a Thanksgiving meal or a Christmas party.  It can be as simple as a phone call to someone who has no one, no family, few or no friends….or that person who feels they have no one.  Perhaps a small note to them, perhaps inviting them to lunch.  These ideas and numerous others can allow you to be that special event in someone’s life, allowing them to know they are not alone.

Being the Face of Jesus during this time of the year means invoking that ol’ question, “What would Jesus do?”  I find myself asking this question a lot lately.  If Jesus were with us today, wouldn’t he be reaching out, if only to just BE THERE, for those who are alone, sad and without family.

Yours to share

I mentioned a family who reached out to me.  I felt like, although my mother has been in heaven some three years, that the family was sharing their mother with me, if even for only a few hours.  Can you share your mother, father or friends with someone who needs a little love who feels like no one loves them?  Reach deep in your heart and soul.  Share your family.  Share your heart.  Be the Face of Jesus.  You’ll feel it come back to you ten-fold and, in the process, bring a smile to someone who, but for your love, wouldn’t have that smile this coming Christmas season.  Let this be your gift to Jesus this year.  It costs nothing but your time, your heart your love, and being the Face of Jesus we are all called to be.

Now, THIS is a gift with a big red bow on it!!!