Effective Use of Christmas Cardsby Dale Harcombe | More from this Blogger 17 Dec 2008 03:54 PM Well, I finally got around to sending our Christmas cards out yesterday. It was interesting on the weekend to read in the Sydney Morning Herald that Australia is the fourth largest greeting card market in the world. We come behind the US, UK and Netherlands. Of course all of those are not Christmas cards. But the article said on average Australians send out 21 Christmas cards a year. We must be sending out someone else's share as well as we sent out more than that.Not surprisingly between 85-95 percent of the cards are bought by women. We usually buy them in packs from the local Christian bookshop. Our cards always depict the nativity scene or something that relates to the birth of Jesus. They always contain a bible verse that reflects our faith. I will sit for ages trying to match the right card with each person on our list. With the advent of email we email some newsletters and Christmas greetings but mostly we send cards. I also like to receive cards and was happy yesterday to find three in the letterbox. On the whole we don't send cards to people we see all the time at church or socially but friends whose friendship is important to us but we might only see a couple of times a year. Some are people we no longer see, since we moved but we don't want to lose touch. Most cards go out with a letter that updates friends to what Mick and I and the family have been up too since they last heard from us. We pray some of our words will spark our non Christian friends into investigating Christianity. Sometimes that may take years, as happened to a friend recently and then suddenly something clicks and the person decides to go to church or read a bible or buy a Christian book or attend a carols service. We never know how God will work if we pray and pass on the message. This year Mick and I also sent letters home to the parents of the children we teach at school and told them what had been teaching the children this term. With them, we included a list of all the church services and carols. We pray some of them will be inspired to visit them. Do you use Christmas time as an opportunity to share your faith? If not, why not? Please Visit These Related Blogs 7 Ways to Make a Difference This Christmas 5 Ways to Save on Christmas Cards
Learn more about Dale Harcombe  Dale has a passion for books and writing. She writes in various forms, from articles to poetry to fiction for children and adults. Relevantchristian tags User Comments Heidi (5269) 17 Dec 2008 10:34 PMMy husband and I have little ones (a son who is 2 and a daughter who will be 3 months on Christmas Eve) as do most of our friends. The vast majority of the Christmas cards we receive are photo cards--with a picture of our friends' child or children and a generic "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" printed on it. My DH and I do not (and will not) do that because, like you mentioned, our Christmas cards have some sort of Christ centered message inside them and are purchased at the Christian bookstore. We send them to friends who are believers and those who are not. Our prayer is our Christian friends will be encouraged in their celebration of the birth of our Savior this season while our non Christian friends would come to see Jesus for who He truly is!  Dale Harcombe (10333) 17 Dec 2008 11:03 PMBoth sound like excellent reasons for sending Christ centered Christmas cards, Heidi. We need to do all we can to keep Christ at the heart of Christmas. Community Tags birth of Jesus, Christmas cards, letters, prayer, sharing faith Discuss this article
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