Our family loves Christmas lights. We put them up early at our house and are so excited as gradually the lights begin going up on other homes in our neighborhood. We live in a great, friendly cul de sac which shines this time of year. We can look out our dining room windows in the front of the house and enjoy the sights of seven other homes lit up for the holiday.
Each year we take an evening drive to look at the many Christmas light displays around town. Sometime during the first half of December and again always on Christmas Eve. We take hot chocolate and coffee with us, put on a Christmas CD, roll down the windows and turn up the heat.
For the past few years we've made the Christmas Eve drive a tradition because it is an opportunity to help feed the hungry in our "small town" community. There is a neighborhood in the east side of town where each large home on the street has a spectacular display of lights and the neighbors organize a food drive during the few days leading up to Christmas.
Our boys help us pull some extras out of our pantry to share with those in need and with glad hearts we head out to enjoy the sights and bless those we don't know. I encourage you to find a similar opportunity in your "small town."
This tradition of family light seeing goes back to when I was a child. Each December when I was growing up my parents, sister and I would take my great-grandma and her sister, when she could go, all over town to experience the joy of the season after dark.
Is there an elderly couple or individual you know in your "small town" who, for whatever reason, doesn't get out much or at all anymore after dark? Imagine what a blessing for you and them if you made an invitation to spend an early evening touring the lights. Share the holiday joy!
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