God surprised me last week. I was asked to speak at a Christmas outreach luncheon in Vero Beach, Florida. What an encouragement it was to see three women give their hearts to Christ!
But the biggest surprise happened a bit later. A waitress at the venue approached me just as Gene and I were packing up to leave and said, “I’m so glad I was working here today because I heard you speak—and my brother is in the same prison where your son is—and he needs Jesus. Do you think Jason would try to meet my brother and talk to him?”
We stopped to minister to this lovely young woman and knew it was no doubt one of our most important appointments of the day—an unexpected interruption that turned into a precious opportunity to hear her story and offer encouragement. Please pray for a young inmate named Andrew. God can put his life back together.
This uplifting surprise prompted me to itemize how I plan to make this Christmas my best yet. I hope some of these ideas will be helpful to you, too.
- Recognize the opportunities (which often look like interruptions) that you have for ministry to others during this busy season.
- Invite a small group of people to your home for dinner. Linger at the table—because that’s a place where all guests can hear each other speak. After the main meal, take turns sharing a highlight of your year and a prayer need for you or your family. Ask someone to pray for the needs as the sharing time ends.
- Read one Christmas card/holiday newsletter out loud to your family after dinner daily throughout the holiday season and into the new year. Pray for that friend and their family after you read the letter.
- Identify a person who encouraged or mentored you in a meaningful way in the past who you rarely (if ever) see at this stage of your life. Set up a time to call that person and thank him/her for the difference their example or instruction meant in your life.
- Exchange a favorite holiday recipe with a friend.
- Purchase a ham or turkey and drop it off at the home of a single parent with a note of Christmas encouragement.
- Pick three nonprofit or mission organizations that interest you and share the purpose of each of them with your family. Discuss an amount that your family would like to donate to one of the organizations before the end of the year. (We’d be honored if you consider our ministry to inmates and their families at SpeakUpforHope.org.)
- Visit someone you know who is currently in a nursing home, a prison, or a hospital. Determine ahead of time a specific gift you could give or a service you could provide to that person.
- List three things that make the holiday season stressful for you. Ask yourself how you could simplify or eliminate one of them. (Remember, delegation is your friend. You don’t have to do it all!)
- Read Luke 2 and remember the miracle of the birth of Christ and why He came to this earth. Verbalize thanks to God through prayer or by writing a letter to your Heavenly Father, expressing your grateful heart.
Spread hope in these troubled times: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 NIV
Gene and I are praying that your Christmas season is filled with holy moments of awestruck wonder as you reflect on the birth of the King.
Question: What is one of your favorite Christmas traditions, or which one of the ten suggestions will you follow through on as this year?
About Carol Kent
Carol Kent is a bestselling author and an international speaker for conferences, outreach events, and retreats. She’s the executive director of the Speak Up Conference, an event committed to helping people develop their speaking and writing skills. She and her husband, Gene, have founded the nonprofit organization, Speak Up for Hope, which benefits inmates and their families. Carol holds a master’s degree in communication arts and a bachelor’s degree in speech education. Carol has trained Christian speakers for over twenty-five years, and she has been a featured speaker at Women of Faith, Extraordinary Women, and Women of Joy arena events. She is the author of over twenty-five books, including the bestselling When I Lay My Isaac Down, Becoming a Woman of Influence, and He Holds My Hand. Check out her newest book for Mother’s Day, Life Lessons for Moms. Connect with Carol at www.carolkent.org.
Hi Carol and Gene
What an amazing God moment you had to speak to that sister about her brother Andrew! There are no coincidences as we know that find both him and Jason together. Praying for both of them! Ellen (from Wheeling IL where you spoke in May! ) 💜
Thank you for your encouraging comment, Ellen. I appreciate your prayers.
I appreciated your email this morning. I have a brother, Jesse, who is in our county jail awaiting transfer to a prison. He is making the best of his stay there, by doing maintenance and fix-up jobs around the jail, so that keeps him busy. He is a meth addict, and I covet your prayers for him to finally kick this habit while he is incarcerated. Thank you & God Bless!
Hi Dori…I’m praying for your brother, Jesse, right now, that he will get completely free from his addiction and grow in his walk with Jesus. He’s blessed to have you in his life!
You always lift my spirits. Your strength and devotion to our Lord is such a testimony. Praise you for your service to our Lord.
You comment blessed me today, Karen! I pray that God will bless your Christmas in a special way. Thank you for taking the time to write.
Thank you for sharing Carol! What a Beautiful testimony. I’ll be in prayer for this young woman and her brother Andrew. These divine appointments (divine interruptions) are so important to God.) I pray you have a very Blessed and Joy- filled Christmas season. I’ll be reading and reflecting on Luke 2 and also reaching out to a beautiful woman of God from my past who was always so encouraging to me in my walk with the Lord. She is ill with cancer now and could use encouragement as I am a cancer survivor as well.
On the Journey,
Nancy de Cardenas
Nancy, what a lovely note! I’m praying for you as you minister to the woman who blessed you in the past and is currently struggling with cancer. You are a blessing!
I have friends who are shut-in’s and can’t get out. It gives me a special joy to share a ‘Twelve days of Christmas box’ that has small presents to open each day from Dec. 13-25. The gifts range from framed photos and treats to mittens and socks. It takes a little time and energy to put this together, but the mutual joy I give and receive is well worth it. Thank you for your suggestions. I pray more people are impressed to spread good cheer at this time of year!
What a great idea, Lisa! The “Twelve Days of Christmas Box” filled with small gifts for each day is a fantastic idea that many of us could customize for specific people in our lives. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Carol, they call me Carol also.
Both my sons were incarcerated at the same time, it was the hardest journey I had endured at that time. Your book When I Lay My Isaac Down was such an encouragement during that time.
God also turned what the enemy met from evil to good. I started a ministry for mothers that have adult children incarcerated under the umbrella of Moms in Touch in CT.
Since I have an opportunity, I wanted to let you know your book blessed me! Thanks 😊
Hi Carol…what a joy it is to hear about the ministry you started for mothers who have adult children who are incarcerated! Thank you for your kind words about my book,”When I Lay My Isaac Down.” You encouraged me today and I’m praying for your sons and for you right now.
Thankyou for sharing. We never know what HE has planned. As we go visit our son in prison for Christmas weekend, we have been invited to share a Christmas Eve dinner at someone’s air B N B who is also in town to see her husband in the prison. We really don’t know them, but always ask GOD for opportunities. We pray to be a light, and offer the hope we cling to for this hard journey. I appreciate your example of walking this road. I pray often for you family.
Penny, thank you for commenting. Some of my favorite Christmas weekends have been spent at the prison, not only encouraging our son, but getting to know other families of inmates and their incarcerated loved ones. You are a LIGHT, and I know you will be an uplifting blessing to the woman you’ll be with on Christmas Eve. Thanks, too, for your prayers.
Wow, just wow, isn’t God so awesome in the way He set everything up!
Thank you for being willing vessels, fit for the Master’s use.
I pray I be so as well.
Barbie
Jeremiah 31:3
Thank you, Barbie. What encouraging words
Carol, these suggestions are excellent. And how amazing that the waitress “lingered to listen” to your talk even while serving, and what she heard could well change her brother’s life. Praising God!
Thanks, Maggie! I, too, am amazed that the waitress lingered long enough to listen to the message. Have a blessed Christmas with your family!
Carol, thank you so much for that uplifting story. I’ll pray for that young woman and her brother. My grandson just got out of prison a year ago. He’s working and turning his life around , but still hasn’t accepted the Lord. I gave him a prison Bible from Bible League and encourage him to read it. Keep Diederich in your prays. How I wish he would have had a Jason in his prison. What an incredible blessing your son and his ministry is!!! Christmas Blessings to your family.
Jill, I’m praying for Diederich as I write this note, asking God to move in his heart and draw him to the Savior. How blessed he is to have a praying grandma! Thanks so much for your note! Christmas blessings to you, too!
Carol Kent, thank you so much for this timely message. Number 1 will be my focus because of the endless interruptions that have turned out to be a blessing and a one=-on-one mission field.
Thank you for the encouragement, you and Gene, have blessed me with over the years.
Yvonne, what a year you’ve had! Gene and I are keeping you in our prayers. You are already an example of how to turn interruptions into Divine appointments. Thank you for all you do to encourage and bless the lives of others. We appreciate you so much! Sending love and hugs…Merry Christmas!