Light the World

I am excited we are being encouraged to "Light the World" again this Christmas season. Learn more about this campaign here. Last Christmas I didn't do well with this, and I am glad I am getting a chance to do better this year.

I really want to do something that we can do together as a family and really include our 3 year old, especially giving us the opportunity to teach her more about Christ and what Christmas is really about.

We are using the countdown from the "Friend" here, and added a chain for each day. We will read the scripture and watch the video for that day, you can find them here. Then we will do what it says on our chain. I thought I would share what we have decided we will be doing to "Light the World" this year. Some of my ideas came from this really cute calendar for kids from A Year of FHE, others were just ideas we came up with on our own.

#1 Give Freely to Others- Donate to the food pantry at our Ward Christmas Party
#2 Give Others Drink- Give a case of bottled water to someone in need
#3 Keep the Sabbath- Read the Friend together after Church
#4 Love My Neighbor- Leave a surprise for our Neighbor
#5 Honor My Parents- Tell our Mom & Dad's how much we love them
#6 Don't Judge Others- Read this from Pres. Uchtdorf, and take his quiz, learn how we can "Stop it" and decide how we can do better
#7 Serve Little Children- Play with a new friend today, & Donate a Toy to "Toy for Tots" (drop off box in our area is at Papa Murphy's)
#8 Love My Enemies- Listen, Sing, and Learn the song "Jesus Said Love Everyone" 
#9 Visit the Sick- Make a Card for someone who is sick and Give it to them
#10 Search the Scriptures- Memorize a Scripture as a Family
#11 Help a Stranger- Pick an Angel from an "Angel Tree" and fulfill the request (if you are in our area Angel Tree's can be found at: City Hall, County Courthouse, Shopko, and the Hospital)
#12 Help the Sad- Give someone feeling down a hug today
#13 Be Kind to Others- Let someone play with your favorite toy, & give a sincere compliment
#14 Do What's Important- Have a "Screen Free" day, play a game as a family instead
#15 Show Mercy- Show Compassion to others by making and delivering Christmas Treats
#16 Clothe the Naked- Donate new or good condition warm winter clothing (Drop Box in our area is at Burt's Auto Body Shop)
#17 Attend Church- Set out our clothes & shoes for church the day before, share what we learned at church with each other
#18 Forgive Others- Have a lesson on forgiveness for Family Night, lesson idea can be found here.
#19 Be Happy & Thankful- Write and send a Thank you note to someone today
#20 Love People not Things- As a family make a list of 3 blessings that are not "things"
#21 Feed the Hungry- Prepare a meal as a family, and invite someone over for dinner
#22 Try to be like Jesus- Write down 3 ways we can be more like Jesus, & make a plan to do them
#23 Visit those in Need- Visit with someone in a nursing home, or lonely neighbor
#24 Pray Always- Say a prayer Morning, Noon, & Night today
#25 Be a Good Example- Share how Jesus is our Example on social media

I hope this gives you some ideas on ways you can Light the World with your family this Christmas Season! I am excited to see how this will change our hearts and perspective as we celebrate Christ's Birth this year.