Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with Lisa, wherever Lisa goes.
Joshua 1:9
Is there someone on your Christmas list that could use some real encouragement? A special touch? A personalized gift from God?
With a little time and thought, you can make an investment in your friend or family member’s soul that might remain long after Christmas 2012 has been scrapbooked and/or forgotten.
All it will cost you is a 7-day pill organizer, some paper, and PRAYER.
Here’s what you do:
1. Get a container
Find a 7-day pill box (or any container of your choice).
2. Choose verses
Click on the Verses-Original here or the box below. Pray as you read through these verses (or choose your own) and mark which ones would be meaningful to your friend. Decide on at least one verse per day (a total of seven verses) or up to five verses per day (a total of 35 verses).
You can choose verses by category (one for each day of the week) or ignore the categories and just choose randomly. If you don’t want to personalize (using step 3), print out the verses now.
3. Personalize verses
If you do want to take it one step further and personalize these same verses you’ve chosen, click on the Verses-Personal here or the box below (same verses as above, just reformatted).
Either write these verses by hand, inserting your friend’s name in the appropriate spots OR for computer printing, save the Verses-Personal as a Word document on your computer, then use the simple “Find and replace” command to have the computer make all the changes for you in one clean swoop, using–Find what: [NAME], Replace with: Ashley, and “replace all”. With one keystroke, all the verses are now personal.
Example:
Change this:
May the God of hope fill [NAME] with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit [NAME] may abound in hope.
Romans 15:13Into this:
May the God of hope fill Ashley with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit Ashley may abound in hope.
Romans 15:13
4. Cut and fill
Cut the verses into individual strips. Fold and insert one verse per day (or up to five) in each box of the pill holder.
5. Wrap in prayer
As you wrap it up or place in a gift bag, pray for your friend to be blessed by the Living Word through your gift of these written words. It’s a gift of love and life that will be appreciated each day.
And don’t be surprised if you, too, are blessed as you put this gift together at Christmas or any time of the year!
What’s a favorite scripture you would recommend sharing with a friend?
This is such a neat idea Lisa. I love it and will definitely use this to give more of the Living Word to loved ones in my life. Prov. 3:5-6 would be a “must have” in several boxes for my loved ones right now.
Yes, Prov 3:5-6 is a great addition, Julie. Thanks for mentioning that one. I know you are a blessing to all around you of the Living Word.
Neat idea! I’ve done this a couple of times just putting strips of paper with a Scripture verse with the person’s name into a canister for them to pull out out random: http://barbarah.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/homemade-with-love-2007-personalized-scripture/
It does have an impact — we know these verses are for us, but actually seeing our name there really bring it home sometimes.
So glad you shared the link, Barbara, and I recommend others visit there because you include even more suggestions and pictures.
I also appreciate your disclaimer that we can’t take just ANY scripture and make it personal, but must use wisdom.
For example, I wouldn’t want to receive this verse personalized to me. :-)
“Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.”
Genesis 6:14
Several years ago, a retreat leader used Scripture verses in a similar way, but hers were formatted to print on business card stock. I made several at that time for grieving folks and cancer patients, but that had dropped out of my mental toolbox as an encouragement gift. Given my daily use of pill containers anyway, I love your take on this!
Isaiah 41:10 and Psalm 23 would be on my list, plus much of Romans 8 and Ephesians 1.
Great and timely idea! Thank you.
I love the idea of having verses ready to hand out at the exact moment of need. It’d be nice to keep a stash tucked away in my purse or car for just such occasions… Thanks for the idea, Christina! And for the additional verses, all excellent choices.