How Many More Good Deeds until Christmas?

Even though December was still a few days away, my boys were beginning to talk about what they wanted for Christmas. A catalog had come in the mail, and they were already fighting over the toys on its pages. I was worried about their selfishness and their materialistic concerns. How could I teach them that Christmas means more if you give of yourself?

A few days later, I pulled out our fabric advent calendar to prepare it for the Christmas countdown. As I looked at the twenty-four small pockets, I had an idea: I would teach my boys about love and service in daily doses!

When I filled the pockets with ornaments to be pinned, one a day, to the tree, I added twenty-four different instructions for good deeds. These included “Hug everyone in the family,” “Bake cookies and give them all away,” “Invite a friend to visit the community manger scene with us,” and “Do a secret service for someone.”

As a result, we had the best December ever. The children looked forward to each day’s suggestion. Soon their friends joined them after school to see what they could do that day.

We learned, as we counted the days to Christmas, to make each day count.—Annette P. Bowen, Bellevue, Washington

Illustrated by Scott Greer