Big Tips And Family Traditions
Big Tips and Family Traditions
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Luke 12:34
Each year, after the Thanksgiving meal has ended and the turkey and mashed potatoes have been put away, our friends George and Kylee and their three children pile into the car and head to a local restaurant for dessert. When they leave, they give the server a big tip—much more than is typically given—along with their sincere thanks. It’s a treasured family tradition. They love to bless someone who has to spend their holiday working, whatever the reason—whether because that person needed the money or just couldn’t get the day off to be with family.
As a mom, it’s easy to think about doing kind acts with my kids on regular days when we have the time, when it works with our schedule, and when it doesn’t require too much additional effort. But in the busy rush of big holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter, it’s easy to focus on my own children, the comfort I enjoy, or our immediate or extended family’s expectations of what the day will hold. Yet I love the idea of making kind acts as much of a family tradition as lefse and meatballs on Thanksgiving or cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning are for us—something we can look forward to that becomes ingrained as a long-lasting tradition.
Rather than worrying about buying another Thanksgiving pie or more stocking stuffers for my children, I want to remember that my pocketbook should follow not just my own heart but the heart of Jesus. After all, Scripture says that where we choose to spend our money reveals the inner desires of our hearts. Investing in others—like giving a big tip to a server on Thanksgiving—speaks not only to the heart of what the holiday is truly about but also to the heart of what God desires for us, his children.
— Today’s Act of Kindness —
Find someone who is working on a holiday—an airport worker, a gas station attendant, or the waitstaff at a restaurant—and do something kind for them.
From the book
