We were talking last night with some friends about Christmas traditions. What makes a Christmas tradition meaningful? What is our desire for our Christmas traditions? We talked about two kinds of traditions… those we grew up with, and those we want to start doing for the sake of ourselves and our family now.
A tradition one of us experienced was to make a Christmas habit of going and serving together as a family. What a great idea. Sadly, the Christmas season (in our culture) can become very self-centered with the emphasis on gifts. Here’s something practical that you can do about it.
One of the closest schools to us is Summerour Middle School and it has been meaningful to support them in the past. If you are looking for an opportunity to help yourself or your family push back against selfishness our culture promotes, why not join us there during one of their Success Saturdays?
Success Saturdays are opportunities for students who are struggling with school to get some extra help. It’s led by the teachers and focuses on math, language, and science.
“But I’m not a teacher.”
That’s ok. You don’t have to lead and, in fact, you don’t even have to interact directly with students if you’re not comfortable doing it (although maybe a challenge would be more beneficial than being comfortable?). There are opportunities in a variety of areas: helping teachers, carrying out administrative or logistical tasks for the Success Saturday director, and even just spending time with the students during a meal or a break.
“I’m not sure I’ll make a difference. And we don’t even live in Norcross.”
In the short term, these are students who need help and teachers who could use some assistance. In the long term, think of the benefit for your family as they have another opportunity to give themselves away during what can become a very self-centered season.
And think about the even greater joy of serving alongside Christ as we talked about in a recent post.
Here are the dates:
- Dec 6 (this Saturday!)
- January 10 & 24
- February 14 & 28
- March 14 & 28
Here are the times:
Success Saturdays are from 8:15am to noon. You can come for part or all of that time
“Ok, I’m ready! How do I sign up?”
Just let Jonathan know at least couple days before the day you want to come help so he can coordinate with the Success Saturday leadership to help you get plugged in.
