The holidays can be very lonely for anyone suffering a broken heart. Ask God to bring to mind a person who needs to feel His love through your life. Here are some practical ways you can reach out to a hurting friend, neighbor, or family member:

Offer to take a widow shopping and out for lunch. Help her wrap the gifts.

Decorate a handicapped person’s home – and then schedule a date to take down and put away the decorations.

Invite people who are away from their families to join you for Christmas Eve.

Offer to transport people who are alone to and from special church services – and be sure to sit with them during the services.

Call an elderly widow and offer to pick up things at the grocery store for her.

Help a widow or widower clean their house for the holidays.

Make a double batch of cookies. Deliver a tin and a basket of teas to someone who is alone. Ask if you can stay to sample the goodies. Ask the person to share something about their life.

Pray especially over the holidays for your pastor – that he will have great strength and wisdom as he shares God’s Word, knowing there will be people present who attend church only on Christmas and Easter!

Spend time praying especially for your family to remember the “reason for the season”.

Pray for yourself to be tuned in to the unspoken needs of those around you.

May these ideas help you Make Abundant Riches Known in the Name of Christ as you celebrate the glorious gift of the baby Jesus to a broken world.