Christmas Cards: To Send or Not To Send

After a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend I now turn my attention to the Christmas season. Over the weekend I prepared our Christmas cards, which I like to send or deliver shortly after Thanksgiving. I was disappointed to find out that many no longer send out cards. The reasons given are usually "I'm too busy" or "it's too expensive." I remember as a child the excitement of checking the mailbox each day to see what long-lost friend or family member sent their love in these wonderful cards. So much of their personality was reflected in the cards they chose.

Call me old fashioned, but I take great care in choosing my cards and am actually sending more out this year than in years past. Some we will deliver by hand and others we will drop in the mailbox, sending our love across the country. As I prepare each card I pray for that person or family. Over the last two years our family has experienced many challenges and God has brought many new people in our lives that we are so thankful for. They have become family to us. We can never express to these people what they have done for us just by their friendship, so the price of a card and stamp is not too much to spend on them. I also use our cards as a witnessing tool for those loved ones who don't know the true meaning of the holiday season—the sending of God's one and only Son to become the bearer of our sins. As Christians we often complain about what "the world" has done to Christmas, but I think that we have a hand in it when we are out buying what the latest ad says we need instead of being the salt and light of the world.