In today’s Proverbs 31 devotion, I shared a story about a time when I picked up a total stranger off the side of the highway, allowed them to ride in my car, took them to the gas station and dropped them back off.

Your first thought is probably “that is not safe!” I get it. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was safe either, and that was only one of the reasons I hesitated in helping. But God’s nudging to help was stronger than the excuses in my head, and instead of looking at her with my physical eyes, I saw her with the eyes of my heart.

This happened many years ago, but I’ve never forgotten the experience or how it made me feel to help someone so desperately in need. She didn’t just need physical assistance, she needed someone to notice her. To see her. To notice her need. To see her as not a disheveled stranger, but one of God’s children who was worthy of being helped.

In today’s devotion, I mentioned I’d share more encouragement and ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus during this holiday season. But I’m not going to share a long list of ideas about how to serve other people, because you can google that topic and find tons of great suggestions all over the internet.

What I want to encourage you to do is walk through each day of this month with eyes wide open.

During this time of year, we see a lot. We see all the decorations in streets, stores, and homes. We see lots of sales online. We see friends and family. We see presents. We see ugly Christmas sweaters. We see stockings, mistletoe and holiday movies. We see obligations.

But how much do we intentionally try to see the needs of those around us? Not just the obvious needs for help, like serving in a soup kitchen or  the homeless person standing in the cold, although those are great ways to serve. But seeing that person standing beside you in the store who looks like they are having the worst day ever and could use a friendly smile or chat. That elderly neighbor whose driveway needs shoveling. That person who is all alone on the holidays. The shut-in who won’t have any visitors on Christmas day. The lady who has too many bags to carry to her car, with 3 little children in tow. That family who is struggling financially and can’t buy any gifts for their children. That co-worker you don’t know very well who is spending the holidays in a hospital due to a recent diagnosis. That delivery driver or mail deliverer who spends all day long getting in and out of the cold.

So often we walk through our days and our holidays, seeing a lot of things with our eyes, while not even noticing the simple needs of others because they blend in with the normalcy of daily life.  But what if we asked God to help us see with our hearts instead of our eyes? What if we asked for an acute awareness of the simple needs around us and for God to stir our spirits to help us truly see those in need? I imagine what we see would look very different, and as our sight changes, so will our hearts.

The truth is …. being a blessing is a blessing.

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How can you intentionally be a blessing to someone this holiday season?