By Tahnee Jones

I asked God, “How can I be a victor when I feel like the world’s most defeated victim?”

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Rejects in Front of Majesty

By Monica Leija

There is something heart gripping about the unfavored basketball team who dunks the winning shot or the football team deemed losers, who score the final touchdown…underdogs turned champions. Or how about the kid in school that everybody dismisses because he walks to the beat of his own drum. The outcast, who is now living large or the little girl that should have never made it out of the projects on her way to Harvard; I can’t help it, but underdog stories always captivate me. They always make me want to do a little stomp dance…it stirs in me pure excitement!

The shepherds back in Jesus’ day were the definition of walking outcasts. They were the underdogs. Shepherding was not a position of high esteem; as a matter of fact they were rejects.

God uses the least likely rather than the most likely.

Show Your Love in New Ways This Christmas

By Keshia Smith

Not all of the gifts given to your loved ones this Christmas need to be wrapped and placed under a tree. In Gary Chapman’s book “The Five Love Languages,” Chapman points out five ways that people give and receive love. Figuring out a partner, friend or family members’ primary Love Language can help you make them feel extra special this holiday season.

The Five Love Languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch. A quick assessment test at www.5lovelanguages.com can show you what your primary love language is. Friends and family members may have a variety of different love languages.

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Keeping Christ in Christmas is the theme this month here at Blog Magazine and I want to share with you one of the things my family and I like to do during this time of year to remember that Jesus is the reason for this season.

I follow several crafty, homemaking, and DIY blogs and have read several posts about random acts of kindness, or RAK. I did not know what they were talking about at first, so I read all I could about it and thought it was a great idea and that my girls and I would try to do a few last year. We made cookies and cards and delivered them to our local fire department, taped coins to a vending machine where I work, made care packages for a few people at a nursing home and bought coffee for the person in line behind us at McDonalds.

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Below is the list of our 25 acts of Christmas kindness that we came up with. We have just not decided which act to do on which day yet. You can follow ours or come up with your own:

Make cookies and cards and deliver them to our local fire department
Pay for the person behind us in the line at McDonalds
Tape quarters to the vending machine at my office and at church
Pay for the next two people behind us at the coffee bar at church
Make and deliver a warm meal to some homeless people downtown
Volunteer at a women’s shelter where my sister works
Make care packages for people in a local nursing home
Deliver hot cocoa to the bell ringers in front of the grocery store
Deliver cookies and donuts to our local police station
Make and deliver homemade gifts to our neighbors
Purchase gas cards and place them on random cars behind the door to their gas tank
Make homemade cards and treats for the sick and elderly at our church
Tape bus fare to bus stops in our neighborhood
Leave a present in our mailbox for our mail man/lady
Send a random person in the phone book a small gift
Take treats to the local animal shelter for the puppies and kittens
Tape popcorn to the Redbox by our house for the next person for movie night
Thank the Trash man with a card or gift
Return shopping carts inside the local retail store
Drop off teddy bear to police department for Operation: Teddy Bear
Make paper hearts that say “Random Act of Kindness- Have a great day!” and place them under the windshield wipers of parked cars
Smile and say Hello to everyone that we meet during the day
Give out free car wash vouchers to random people
Pass out candy canes with a RACK’ed card to everyone at Christmas Eve service
Give out hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls to workers at our local gas station on Christmas morning
What a simple reminder that we are here on earth to serve others and to spread God’s love to those around us. While our intention is to serve and bless others, we in turn become the ones who are blessed. It really is better to give than to receive