A few gifts I'd love to have for Christmas

tis the season to be ill

Apparently I've been "bad" this year because Santa has joyously given me a cold. Or the flue, maybe allergies. Whatever it is its knocked me out for about a week. In light of that, THE CHRISTMAS PARTY WILL BE CANCELED ON THURSDAY NIGHT!

I do apologize and wish everyone a wonderful Thursday night off. Spend some quality time with your family, finish your last minute shopping or have your own Christmas party. Either way PULSE will not be meeting this Thursday. I will see everyone on Sunday as we conclude ADVENT CONSPIRACY.

Advent Conspiracy

This Sunday the theme for Advent Conspiracy is "Give More." In PULSE we will be focusing primarily on the gift of relationship. Giving has never been about the dollar amount or how shiny the item is. Giving has always been about the sacrifice and furthering the relationship with someone else. Our Three points this Sunday are...
1. Give to the least of these (Matt 25:31-40)
2. Give to the church (Eph. 4:11-12)
3. Give to the relationship (Matt. 22:37-40)

Below are a couple ideas of what it means to give relationally.

1. Give a bag of coffee with the rule that only you and the person you give it to can drink it. And when you drink it each of you tell stories of your past and how you became the person you are today.
2. Meal of the month. Pick one evening every month for a year and make dinner for another family.
3. The gift of a hug and a shoulder to cry on.
4. Write a loved one a song or poem.
5. Restaurant Trump Cards! Every person in the family gets two Trump Cards and can use them anytime throughout the year. When the family decides to go out to eat and someone doesn't like the restaurant they can simply play their trump card and go to whatever restaurant they like. Simple, but very fun! Especially when others trump the trump card.

I hope these items give you some ideas of ways you can give the gift of relationship to the ones you love.