As you may have read in my post from Dec 2 I was very discouraged at the beginning of the month. We didn't have as much money for presents as we usually do and we didn't get to travel to see my family in PA, but it was such a special time for our family.

As many of us often talk about doing, this year we decided to focus on helping others. And this year we acted on the decision instead of just talking about it.

Shortly after I wrote that post I found a website that was doing a 12 days of December giveaway and they were introducing you to a different person from their ministry every day. On the 7th day at the end of the entry for that day the suggestion was made to find a family to share the '12 Days of Christmas' - they had done it the year before for a man whose wife divorced him and left him with 5 children.

So, the wheels started turning and I had 2 families in mind. I contacted our pastor to see if this was something I could contact the congregation about and he very enthusiastically said YES!!

For the 12 days leading up to Christmas the focus in our family was on making Christmas special for these 2 families who had/have emotional needs beyond our comprehension. I don't mean this in a self-centered way at all, but it was such a blessing to be able to be used by God to minister to those who were/are hurting. There were many things done including Christmas decorations, meals, and gifts.

I believe it was through the same website - possibly just linked through that website - that my husband and I chose to do a different way of giving gifts within our family this year. We only bought 3 gifts for each other and 3 gifts for our daughter. The gift of gold represents something that the person really wants; the gift of frankincense represents something spiritual; and the gift of myrrh represents something you can wear. This took away so much stress of not knowing what to buy and not spending a lot. We had a great time and have enjoyed sharing this with many friends and family members.

This Christmas meant more to me than any of the 27 I have celebrated before. It was the most Christ-focused and others-centered holiday season I have ever experienced. Praise the Lord!!!

The only regret I have is that I don't think I took enough time to listen to Christmas music. . .