Our church family is stepping up to show the love of Jesus in a practical way through Adopt a Family at Christmas.
11/30/2021While Christmas is often referred to as the “most wonderful time of the year,” for some people the holidays can be a huge financial burden. In fact, Saddleback Church has identified hundreds of families in Southern California who are in need of various practical items this Christmas that they cannot afford. So, our church family is stepping up to show the love of Jesus in a practical way through Adopt a Family at Christmas.
Saddleback members Jeremy and Liza Gant, as well as their four kids, participated in the ministry last year and plan to do the same this year. They said it was really easy to help out.
“We went to a website, then we got their wishlists, and then we went shopping and picked some stuff from it,” Liza said. “Some stuff they needed, some stuff they wanted.”
For Jeremy, adopting a family for Christmas felt like something he believes most people can do because of how simple the process was from start to finish.
“It is something that you can just do along the way,” he said. “You’re already going to the store … you’re already doing Christmas shopping for your family, to add a couple more items to your list and then bless another family, it’s incredible.”
Helping out another family also brought the Gant family closer together during the holidays. They could not help but smile as they recalled what it was like to shop together, teach their kids to wrap gifts, and drop off the presents as a family.
“It was really neat when we were able to finally bring it all together,” he said. “We were able to show up at the [other family’s] house, our kids had the gifts, they had everything all wrapped and ready, and they actually saw the faces of the [other] kids.”
One of the most impactful memories the Gant family has from last year was when they drove about 20 miles to deliver gifts to one of the families they adopted for Christmas. The family was having a get together in their front yard and the Gants were invited to join.
While they were there, Jeremy and Liza’s kids spent some time talking with one of the boys from the other family. After learning about the struggles his family was facing, the kids prayed with the boy and shared the love of Jesus with him for the first time. Liza said it was a profound moment for her children.
“We have wish lists that have a lot of fun things, but then when you get to buy just the essentials like a jacket or shoes you [realize you] take that [stuff] for granted,” she said. “It’s a great lesson for our kids to know what they may have just easily available to them, for other kids it’s a big deal to have a sweatshirt or shoes of their own.”
The lessons the Gant family learned through adopting a family at Christmas did not just impact their kids, Jeremy said it also revealed to him and Liza that there are needs all around them.
“There are plenty of people here who are hurting, just here in our own backyards, and for me that opened up my eyes to what the need is just in our own community,” he said.
If you would like to Adopt a Family at Christmas, click here to learn more and register.
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