Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Christmas and Neighbors
LaRonda, you have inspired this post! (you need to get yourself a blog!:)) I just read LaRonda's comment on Robyn's blog about taking fruit baskets to their neighbors for Christmas. I've been trying to think of something special we could do for our neighbors for Christmas this year. I'm looking for something that isn't too expensive. I know cookies, bread, or candy are always a big hit. What do the rest of you do, if anything, for your neighbors? I've also been feeling lately that I need a new passion for reaching out to those that don't know Christ. How can I reach out to those around me this Christmas with more than just a neighborly visit?
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Hi Sabrina, I'm finally getting caught up. I can't believe you spent 2 hours in traffic and didn't even get to go shopping! CRAZY!! :) I've never done black Friday before, and your story definitely hasn't inspired me to change my mind.
ReplyDeleteYour neighbor question is a good one...I'm ashamed at how few people we knew at our last house. I'm hoping to do better this time, but I'm still such a chicken. :( For the ones we did know, we gave cookies at Christmas, strawberry jam and tomatoes in the summer.
This may sound weird, but I think sometimes it may actually be a good thing to ask your neighbors to help with things like watering plants or picking up mail while you're gone on vacation. It makes them feel trusted, gives you a reason to go see them before and after, and then you can give generous and grateful thank-yous! :)
Okay, that's long...guess I'm making up for the last week.
~ Joy
Another idea is to invite them to a Christmas eve service. A lot of people are more open to going to church at Christmas time. Then you have them over afterwards for cookies and coffee. Hey, that's a good idea. Maybe I should try it! :-)
ReplyDeleteI just thought of some more ideas for you. I love to think about stuff like this. Do you make homemade bread? You could take a loaf of bread, but then also put some kind of homemade cinnamon butter with it. You could buy a cute little container to put it in and wrap it up all pretty. Another thing you could do is buy a small poinsettia. I was just at Aldi yesterday and got these big beautiful poinsettias for 2.99 ea. One more idea. Send your neighbor ladies invitations to a Christmas tea at your house. Make sure to tell them that is it a neighborhood tea. You could also give out your little gifts to them when they come. Building relationships with people is one of the greatest ways of bringing people to Jesus. I can't wait to hear what you decide to do.
ReplyDeleteWOW! This is the post for very long comments. I don't have any great ideas for you at the moment, but I like everyone else's. Oh, one thing that sort of a hit right now if you're looking for thoughtful gift type stuff is all the stuff in a jar. I made some of them last year and I received some this year. They're sorta fun and you can do everything from soup to brownies. I like the idea of inviting them to a service or your house too... Okay, that's all, I think I'm going to go update my own blog now, just for something different. I've been feeling so uninspired lately.
ReplyDeleteHere is something we did last year, pary mix in a nice little gift can that I got at goodwill or carmel corn, these are easy and inexpensive or just put it in a bag with a nice ribbon. from an oldy..
ReplyDeleteAll of you are very inspiring about the neighbor thing. I've never done anything for Christmas for my neighbors but I should since I've gotten to know them this past summer. I think I'll make them cookies.
ReplyDeleteI like Joy's idea about watering plants, etc. I asked our neighbor to do that for me while we were on vacation and it worked out well. Which reminds me...I still need to get our house key back from them!
-jo