Small Ways to Give Big

This is the final installment of my Small Ways to Give Big series. In case you missed my earlier installments, so far I have suggested:

Tip #1--Winter Heating Donations

Tip#2--Click it to Give it

Tip #3--Coupon Shopping Freebies

Tip #4--Be a Good Neighbor

Tip #5--Letters for our Troops

Tip #6--Foodbank Donations

Small Ways to Give Big Tip #7
Open your Home this Holiday Season--As we approach the holidays, our thoughts often turn to our families. We look forward to eating good meals, sharing laughs and creating memories with those closest to us. But if you look around you, there are people everywhere who don't have anywhere to go for the holidays. Perhaps it's a new family that just moved into the area and can't travel home for the holidays. Maybe it's an elderly neighbor or church member who normally spends the holidays alone. Perhaps it's a single parent at work whose kids are with the other parent this holiday. This suggestion is inspired by an anonymous person at my church. This year this person gave one of the pastors a stack of 20 invitations to Thanksgiving dinner and charged him with finding 20 people in the community to invite who needed a place to go for the holiday. The anonymous host didn't want to know who would be coming. They just said they would have enough food for 20 guests and looked forward to sharing the day giving thanks with those invited. I can't even tell you how much I would love to be in that house Thanksgiving day. I imagine that home will be filled with the spirit of Thanksgiving. Such a grand gesture, while lovely, is certainly not necessary. Inviting just one person, one couple, one family to share one day, one meal with your family this holiday season will be a blessing to them and to yourself.

I hope that in reading this series you have discovered new ways to give to others and that you will be blessed in your efforts to do so.