Merry Christmas Friends,
I have had the most awesome week ever despite hurting my back and being off my feet and off balance for a few days (some might say I'm always off balance Ha!).
Tom and I decided to fore go "large" Christmas gifts for one another this year in order to provide gifts for a friend of mine who is a single mom of Three.
My friend is struggling financially and was only going to spend $5.00 each on her three children at the Dollar Store.
Excuse Me?
While I don't have anything against the Dollar Store, in fact I LOVE The Dollar Tree and visit them on a regular basis; this is different.
I couldn't sleep thinking about those children not having gifts to open on Christmas morning.
So... I have bought, wrapped, delivered and hidden Christmas gifts for three precious children who deserve some comfort and JOY this Christmas Season.
After enduring things children should NEVER be subjected to they need to be pampered and loved on and I'm grateful to be HIS hands and feet this year.
Here are a few pictures of what the Lord provided.
I hope you will know the joy of being someones Secret Santa.
Merry Christmas Sweetest Friends
9 Comments:
Oh Zoe, how very precious! You have such a giving heart. The gifts all look so beautiful. I'm sure this family will be blessed by your generosity and God's love reaching out to them through you.
Tonight you have encouraged my heart and challenged me to still seek out who the Lord wants me to surprise in His Name.
Thanks for giving the gifts of your time, words of encouragement and blessing to me. Your friendship has been a wonderful gift to unwrap this year.
Love ya,
Joy
I the most joy from Christmas from having the priviledge of being able to give large sums of money etc to charities who have more need of the money than me. I would strongly recomend to all that you give something however small to someone who is in more need than yourself, it gives such a wonderful feeling. May God bless you.
I love the generosity! On the other hand though the thought of being sad for kids who only get to open $5 gifts confuses me. You write about remembering the true meaning of Christmas and then turn around and talk about not having physical gifts to open. There were years growing up where I only had one small gift to open and I loved it. I was so appreciative of the gift that I got. I'm sure the point of the blog was giving to others but the wording at the beginning just threw me a little.
I came back to comment about your P31 devotional today. Your voice has not been silenced. I hear you singing His praises all the way across the border. It's clear. It's crisp. It's Christ in you!
Singing with you my friend and praising the Lord who is my Centerpiece each and every day.
Love ya,
Joy
Morning Zoe, I remember when... you sang with the choir at church. Your voice was beautiful and still is!! You are so precious and such a giver. Love you, sister! May our God bless you with a wonderful day - even thoough it is soooooo cold here.
Hey Precious Friend,
I loved this. As to giving gifts to these children I think that is the greatest present you could give Jesus on His birthday! I think that is keeping the true meaning of Christmas!
I love you my friend and if were not for your giving spirit...My life would still be in a state of false strength and pride. I will forever thank you for the gift of wearing your pink shoes!
Merry Christmas and know that you are prayed for daily and loved beyond concepts!
Pamela
No one has a more giving spirit (all year long) than you Zoe!
Love you much!
Merry Christmas,
Micca
"I helped so and so today", "I bought lunch today for a homeless man", "I did this, I did that." I know that I have been guilty of such on more than one occasion. Yet all of the above are the opposite of love. They are words of bragging. Of bringing praise and attention to oneself. The former set of questions are more obvious, and the latter more subtle as by those questions, one is ‘fishing’ for compliments (praise and adoration for oneself).
But what causes one to brag? What is the root problem? It is pride in ourselves and in our own accomplishments. A truly humble heart would not even think to brag on her own accomplishments for she knows that the One working through her is the Lord. And that in and of herself, her “righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6). The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans echoes this thought in quoting Psalm 14:1-3: “ ‘. . . There is none who does good . . .’ ” (Romans 3:12). What does Christ say? “ ‘No one is good except God alone.’ ” (Mark 10:18). So as believers, any good that works through us, is because of our Savior, Jesus Christ, working in us through the Holy Spirit. With that in view, who should we direct our praise to? Should we try to bring glory to ourselves or to our Savior?
“ . . . He who boasts is to boast in the LORD. For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.” (2 Corinthians 10:17)
Yes, may our boast be in the Lord and not in ourselves.
True love, the love of God, "does not brag" (1 Corinthians 13:4). The woman in Proverbs 31 is a shining example of this true and pure heart. She went about her normal activities working, serving, loving. Loving the Lord, loving her family and loving all those she came into contact with. Did she go about and seek praise? Did she laud her own accomplishments? No, she did not. What is said at the end of the chapter? “Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” (Proverbs 31:31). Let her works praise her. Our works, our labors, will speak about where our heart lies. Let others praise us for our works and not ourselves. And let us in our hearts (which can also be expressed verbally), direct the praise back to the Lord.
“But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Galatians 6:14.
gosepgossipgirl@yahoo.com
You know, we can be sort of like a bubble – we can get all puffed up with pride in ourselves and brag about the good things we do, instead of giving Jesus credit for all He helps us to do. And when we do get all puffed up with pride, our good works lose their value before God, and disappear, just like the bubble does, when it pops.
Jesus tells a story about two men. One, the Pharisee, was a very religious man, but he was all puffed up with pride, bragging about his good works. And just like that bubble that popped, his good works had no value to Jesus. But the other man, a tax collector, was humble. He knew he had done some things that were wrong, and he begged God to forgive him. Jesus said that he had the right idea. He knew that we can only be good through God’s power, not through our own power, and that He is the only one who can forgive us when we do something wrong.
I want you to remember the Pharisee and the tax collector – and that Jesus wants us to be humble, not puffed up with pride.
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