Instead of buying something, offer to do something for someone that they either can’t do themselves or don’t have time to get around to doing.
This is a wide open field of ideas.
Give a ‘coupon’ of what you will do as a gift inside of a Christmas card…a homemade Christmas card can be created if it is a child giving the gift.
Some age-specific or geographically-specific ideas are:
- mowing the lawn
- shoveling snow
- cleaning a flower bed
- preparing a flower or vegetable bed for planting in the spring
- cleaning out and organizing a shed, closet, garage, work space
- cleaning out and wiping down shelves, cabinets
- reading with a child on a regular basis
- teaching a skill, such as breadmaking, to someone
- teaching grandparents a computer skill or phone skill they need to know
- polishing a grandfather’s boots or shoes
- catching up someone’s sewing repairs…sewing on buttons, hemming clothing, ironing
- committing to taking out trash on a regular basis
- give someone a ride to church
There are all sorts of one-time or year-round or monthly gift ideas, tailored to what you know would be useful in any given situation.
Sometimes, buying something is the easy way out of gift giving.
A gift of time and service might be more useful and more appreciated.
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.