A creative gift to give for Christmas.

I can count on one hand the number of times I grew lax and simply tossed the notorious garment in the wash without checking the pockets first. I paid the price with a gum streaked-dryer or a crayon-colored load. Most days, no matter how glossy eyed and weary I may be, I check pockets — each and every last one — twice.

Though I have salvaged countless trinkets and oodles of paper wrappers and receipts, I’m especially fond of finding money. If someone leaves money in their pockets, and I discover it while doing the laundry, the rule is — I get to keep it. I’ve hit the jackpot a few times when I found the paper kind. The jingly kind I collect in a jar in the laundry room. I have been for years.

Everyone knows where the jar is. They could get change from it if they needed. We’d use it for tolls, impromptu garage sale shopping, or if someone did extra chores we’d give them a small compensation.

But last year, when we decided that as a family, we would focus on Christ for Christmas, I started the Jesus Jar. Our Jesus jar is more like a tin can in my favorite color. Nonetheless, it’s The Jesus Jar, and it sits right next to the change jar. The idea is simple, and so is the rule.

Once the money goes in, it stays in.
And we count it at Christmas time.

When my laundry room change jar becomes half-way full, the whole of it goes into the Jesus Jar. When I had cash throughout the year, I’d put portion of it in. We encouraged the kids, whenever they had received money, to give a portion as an offering, and put it in the Jesus Jar.

We are buying gifts with the money, but not gifts for ourselves. It all belongs to Jesus, and it is for the least of these. For when we do it for one of them, we do it for Him. So all year long, we had Christmas on our minds. Christmas would be for Christ.

Now Christmas time is here, and we’ve done the counting. Will you join me tomorrow? I’m going to tell you a story of how we used the money:
The Jesus Jar {Part 2} And Gifts of Hope.

God met us there.