Do you like gingerbread cookies? Do you know where they came from? “The Crusaders are credited with bringing gingerbread to Europe, although not in the form we enjoy today. At one time it was made with breadcrumbs and sweetened with honey.”18 Though this little-known fact doesn’t alter the yummy taste of the cookies, it’s something to think about the next time you eat one.
Something else to think about as you eat a cookie is how much you love them. And an easy way for your family to spread Christmas cheer is to spread your love of cookies. Gather your family, and bake homemade goodies to deliver to your neighbors. Here are some examples:
• Sugar cookies
• Gingerbread cookies
• Fudge
• Chocolate-covered pretzels
• Homemade candies
Purchase festive plates, and place several treats on each. Cover the plates with cellophane, and add bows and ribbons. Another fun addition our family does each year is design and cut out homemade Christmas tags that we attach to each plate. Last year’s design was the manger scene that our daughters drew, and it included a Bible verse relating to Christ’s birth. Each tag also said, “Merry Christmas from the Zeller Family.”
When you have finished wrapping the treats, set out, as a family, to deliver the plates with a cheery holiday greeting. What a nice way to spread Christmas cheer and become reacquainted with your neighbors at the same time!
Up for Discussion
What was your favorite part of this activity? Why? How else might you decorate and personalize the gift tags? How would this activity help your family become acquainted or reacquainted with neighbors you don’t see or speak to very often? How could this activity be helpful in showing Christ’s love to a difficult neighbor?
Read the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14:15-23. Discuss the decision of the men who were initially invited to the banquet. How did their decision benefit others who would not have otherwise experienced anything so grand?
Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.
—Luke 14:21