Does your church give out Christmas treat bags the Sunday before Christmas? If not, they should. Very few things say “It’s Christmas” to me like getting a brown paper bag filled with a candy bar, a piece of fruit, a pack of gum, some hard candy, and whatever else the folks in charge of the bags decide to throw in there.
I love Christmas treat bags. One reason I love them is that I am not in charge of them. If putting the treat bags together was my responsibility….Well, let’s just say that they would be terrible. Mostly because I can be a little cheap at times and I would try to fill the bags with things I already have around my house.
Here are a few things that could be expected in Christmas treat bags if I was responsible for them:
1. Leftover Halloween Candy. Yes, we still have some left. It seems to be multiplying. Maybe the basket the candy is in has magic multiplying powers. Maybe I need to take the candy out and put some money in. Excuse me for a moment….
2. Toenail Clippers. I lose these all of the time and buy new ones all of the time. If I search long enough I am pretty sure that I could find enough of these lying around the house to fill up a few dozen treat bags. And who doesn’t love used toenail clippers?
3. Artwork from My Children. No really–with five kids I have plenty to go around. PLENTY!
4. Fake Chocolate-Covered Raisins. We have three goats and two sheep. They produce a lot of these.
5. McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys. My guess for how many Happy Meals I have purchased for my kids over the years is roughly 17,348. I’m ready to get rid of some of those toys.
Now can you see why no one would want me in charge of treat bags?
Thankfully God is much better at giving good things than I am.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:17
No one should trust me to give good gifts in treat bags. We should all trust God to provide good and perfect gifts to us.
Sometimes He gives things that surprise us, things that we don’t ask for.
But if the gift comes from His hand, we can be sure that it is what we need.
What is something weird that you might put in a Christmas Treat Bag?
What good gift have you received recently?
The Seeking Pastor 
I would include fruit cake. Because you can never have enough fruit cake at Christmas. Oh, and cheese log.
Down with fruit cake!
Cheese log??
Yep–a log of cheese.
I would include little tufts of dog hair. Everyone always talks about how cute my dog is, now they can have a part of him!
One of my friends bought me a beer the other night. That was a pretty excellent gift (although probably not appropriate for a child’s Christmas treat bag).
And cat hair–don’t foget cat hair.
I would totally include a picture of myself in a Christmas sweater and Santa hat, cause nothing says Merry Christmas like a picture of me! 😀
I’m sure some would agree.
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Actually, if you have any Monsters, Inc. toys from Happy Meals I’d be happy to get them.
Not sure if I have any of those. If I did they’re probably broken.
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Wow – I haven’t seen treat bags before Christmas in YEARS! I didn’t think they still did that! I would put lots of chocolate in mine 🙂
Yes! Lots and lots and lots and lots!
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Maybe I’ve been lucky/unlucky, but I’ve never even heard of people doing Christmas treat bags. Although if they include toenail clippers and goat feces, then I’m probably not missing much.
Most don’t have those things–unfortunately 🙂
You gotta admit though the old McDonalds happy meal toys where the burger, fries, and milk shake turned into transformers were pretty sweet!
True. They have good ones occasionally.
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A can of Skoal would be handy to some.
True. I know a few pastors who would like this, too.
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If I had to give a Christmas treat bag, it would totally be filled with waxy Qtips. Think about it… if it gets dark, just light that Qtip and you have fire. Wax burns slower than other materials.
Sounds like somebody used to be a Boy Scout.
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WE do Christmas bags each year. They include fruit, nuts, and some candy. Several of our older folk really look forward to them. I just don’t know what all those people with false teeth are doing with the nuts, especially those only a nuclear-powered nutcracker could expedite.
Throwing them at kids who get on their lawns?
My kids came home last night with their Christmas treat bags, complete with McDonald Happy-Meal toy! Thanks so much for making me laugh!
Ha–awesome. Somebody had the same idea as me!
I’d put some communion wafers in there. Mmm.
Maybe with some Eazy Cheeze. 🙂
I would put one orange, one apple, walnuts (in shell) and pecans (in shell). Traditional brown bags for Christmas. Wouldn’t change a thing!! : )
Old school–awesome!
So where/when did this tradition begin? I grew up in a TINY town in VA and attended a small Missionary Baptist Church. They always had treat bags at Christmas.
After school, I moved to a small town NC and attended a Southern Baptist church for a time. I now live in a slightly larger town and attend what some would consider a “mega church”. We are non-denominational and have a weekly attendance of 3500+.
Neither of the churches I attended in NC, nor any I’ve heard of since I left small town VA participate in the treat bag tradition. Some folks here have never heard of it. I would like to know the origins.
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