Blessings Multiplied

Gifts for the girls teachers

We are into our third week of  25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. (Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises).   It has been an awesome doing the daily activities and finding ways to be a blessing to those we meet.  Seriously, I feel like we walk away from an activity feeling more blessed then we did going into it because it is so much fun bringing cheer to the people around us.   What a joy it has been participating in intentional acts of kindness during the Holiday Season.

In some cases we get to see who receives our B.L.E.S.S. gift and in other cases we will never know who is on the receiving end.  We pray that whoever receives or finds these gifts will experience joy during this Holiday Season.  Each night we take down the B.L.E.S.S. activity for the next day and read the verse and the activity then pray for those who have and will receive our little BLESS’ings.  Throughout the week we also try to find additional ways to brighten people’s days so sometimes we do multiply activities during the day.

Karlie wanted to leave her dollar and card inside the candle holder box at the store.

Here is what we have done so far and a couple pictures to share of our adventures:

While the little one was taking a nap the older 3 cousins did their Gingerbread and Christmas Tree Craft together

• Day 15 – Spent time watching my two nephews while my brother worked and my sister-in-law had Christmas program practice at our church.  The girls had a blast with the boys.  We played cars, built with legos, did a craft, ate a snack, and more fun stuff during the morning they were with us.  The girls played really well and were very willing to help their cousin start to get the peels off the stickers.

Gingerbread men goody bags to hand out to classmates

• Day 16 – We picked  up and put together items for the girls school Christmas Party.  They will share these goodies with their classmates.  Both were very excited to share with their friends.  Some of the items they picked up were cookies, cupcakes, grapes, carrots, pencils, stencils, twizzlers, stickers, balls, and a couple other some things.
  

As we were sticking a deposit in our banks night drop box with left a note and candy cane for the next person!

• Day 17 – Since we had a make a trip to the bank on the way home from another activity we decided to spread a little cheer by sticking a note and candy cane on the night drop box to be a blessing to the next person who drove through.
  

Brina placed her dollar to share in the craft section at Dollar Tree

• Day 18 –The girls went with me for a quick trip to Dollar Tree.  On the way to the store we discussed our B.L.E.S.S. activity and prayed that it would be an encouragement to someone today.  Brina chose to leave her dollar in the craft section at Dollar Tree.  Karlie’s location surprised me a little more, she wanted to leave it in the candle section so an adult would find it.   She also decided that it would be best to leave the dollar folded so the person that found it would see the note and know that it is ok to take the dollar.
  

Left a note and candy cane on the pump at the gas station

• Day 19 –The girls and I were filling up with gas earlier this week.  They decided it would be a great place to leave a candy cane surprise for someone else.  So we taped a note and candy cane to the pump.  As we were pulling out of the gas station both girls and I each prayed that God would lead the perfect person to it when they went to fill up with gas.   (a neat side story…..the person who received the note, Mary, contacted us to say “thank you”!  What a blessing it was to find out that we were able to brighten her day!)
  

Christmas goodies packed up in the box for the teacher (a picture of the outside of the boxes is at the beginning of the post)

• Day 20 – We wrapped up some goodies to give to the teachers for Christmas.  The girls picked out some of the items they wanted to give their teachers.  They gave Hand Sanitizer, Clorox Wipes, a box of Kleenex, Glue Sticks, Fresh Citrus Christmas Potpourri, and a Christmas Card with a photo.
  

Left a Christmas Card and a bundle of Fresh Citrus Christmas Potpourri for our mailman

• Day 21 – We left a Christmas Card and gift for our mailman.  He always delivers our mail with a smile.  Whenever he has a package to bring to the front porch asks how the kids are doing and stops to pet Skipper.  We’ve had the same mailman since we moved here over 10 years ago so he has delivered a lot of items to our house!   We are thankful for the people we have gotten to know a little better over the years. 

One of our favorite verses this week went along with our Day 17 activity.

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.   – Ephesians 4:2

It has been a lot of fun working on ways we can be a blessing to others.  This verse talked about “humility” which can be difficult at times because sometimes we want people to notice us.  We talked about why it is important to demonstrate humility.  One of the ways we decide to practice humility was by leaving gifts anonymously if we don’t know who was on the receiving end of the B.L.E.S.S. it is a lot easier to not be proud.  We all agree that leaving “surprise” gifts are one of our favorite activities because we completely leave-it-up-to-God to choose the person to get the blessing.

Twizzlers and pencils are ready to be packed for the girls class party!

It is fun be to be a blessing to others not because we anticipate any rewards or benefits from it, but because we were given the greatest gift of all.  God’s love, grace, and mercy.  He wants us to give cheerfully from the heart.

I am super excited to see how great this B.L.E.S.S. activity is going already.  It has been a true joy sharing with others (many of whom we’ll never meet).  It has been a great experience and I look forward to seeing what will happen with our fun adventures this week.

The main purpose of this activity is to teach our family the joy of giving and sharing to those around us.  I plan to do another update on our fun B.L.E.S.S. adventures next week.  Sometimes it’s the little stuff that can make the most positive impact.  I would love to hear how you are spreading the Christmas cheer this Holiday Season.

To learn more about our 25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. activity and what we have done far check out the links below:

• 25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S.
• Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 1)
• Blessing Lives Everyday with Special Surprises (B.L.E.S.S.): 25 Days of Christmas Blessings (Week 2)

Below are the printable versions of the  25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S. activities, verses, and sheets to handout so here they are for your family to enjoy as well:

• 25 Days of Christmas Blessings B.L.E.S.S. – Acts of Service (we came up with more than 25 activities, around 40, then narrowed them down and decided as a family which ones to do together.  I decided to give you all the activities we had listed so you can choose which ones work well for your family from the list.  Just print these out on colorful paper, cut out, and place into your B.L.E.S.S. activity bags!)
  
• 25 Days of Christmas B.L.E.S.S handout sheets to leave on an item or to give to the person you are blessing.