by Ashlyn Lee on November 11, 2025
I am going to start by stating the catchphrase of this time of year, “the holidays are just around the corner”. For many this might bring up images of spending time with family or friends, maybe you might start thinking of all the things you have to do to prepare for the holidays, or how this year will be different from years past. Those are just a few things you might think about. One of the things that comes to mind when I think of the holiday season is giving back to the community.
Some of my earliest memories of the holiday season revolve around giving back. For my family when I was little, this meant packing shoeboxes to be donated to Operation Christmas Child and giving to Food and Toy Drives. As I grew up, this shifted from how can we give gifts as a reflection of the abundance God has given us, to how can we also give our time (which might seem in short supply) to bless those in our local community. One memory that stands out to me was when I was about ten, when my family’s church participated in Albuquerque’s version of Adopt-A-Family. I remember not only helping pick out gifts for a specific family but also hand delivering the wrapped gifts to the family. Something that has stuck with me all these years was being able to share God’s love with this family, while simultaneously meeting a tangible need. It modeled for me the importance of meeting a tangible need and sharing God’s love.
I am going to shift perspective; I have talked about the importance of giving, now I am going to touch on the impact of receiving. Two years after meeting that family where they were at, my family was the family in need. I remember that Christmas distinctly, not because of the gifts we got from those at our local church, but because of the impact it had on my mom. For the first time in almost a year, I could tell she felt like she was not failing to provide.
When serving is done right, you not only meet a tangible need and spiritual need, but you might also meet an emotional need. I urge you to get involved this holiday season, we have several ways for you to give back to our community this year.
Ashlyn Lee, Missions Director
