Free shipping no minimum purchase!? What a deal! You don't have to stand in line, fight crowds or take precious time from your day to go into the store and pick up those Christmas presents. Heck, you can do all your Christmas shopping on your lunch break and never feel an ounce of the utter chaos that can accompany Christmas shopping.

Now, you feel relieved because you have ordered everything you need, and all you have to do is wait, and your package delivery service (ex. USPS, UPS, FedEx) will take care of the rest. All you have to do is watch those tracking numbers and wait.

I have three very close family members that work for one of those package delivery services, so let me tell you how the holidays can feel for their hard-working souls.

You may or may not know, but there are several different working factors that go into that package making it to your doorstep. Depending on how far you are sending it, or ordering it from, it has to be flown to a distribution center close to you or driven in a semi-truck, unloaded at the center and then redistributed into the smaller package cars to be delivered to your home.

There are so many people you don’t even know about that are working incredibly hard to get your packages to you. It’s easy to remember the driver that delivers the package to your door or mailbox, but what about the people that are up in the early hours of the morning to unload and then reload your packages onto a truck. These employees are lifting, lowering and placing about fifteen hundred packages a day. The packages can weigh anywhere between mere ounces or hundreds of pounds.

Once the early morning employees have scanned and loaded the packages into the package cars, the drivers start their day. The package delivery drivers who bring all those exciting packages to your door typically work extremely long hours, and during the holidays their hours grow even longer and more intense. Depending on where you live, they are working tirelessly in the extreme heat, or the bitter cold to ensure you receive all your online shopping has promised. During the holidays, the employees of these services spend most of their time working, and don’t get nearly enough family time, some places requiring they work on Christmas Eve as well, ensuring your last minute packages arrive.

This holiday season, as you start and finish your holiday shopping and you anxiously await for all your packages to arrive, remember how hard these people work to ensure your prompt deliveries. Remember the amount of physical labor they put in each and every day and the amount of stress that are under not only to get the packages out, but make it back to their center at a reasonable time. Instead of chewing them out because your package is delayed, stop and think. It's truly not their fault that your package is delayed, and they are working as hard as possible to ensure you receive it. And it is definitely not their fault if you ordered something at the last minute, so please do not shout your frustrations at them during an already difficult day.

The holidays are about so much more than giving and receiving. It’s a time to show some extra grace and kindness to those around you. Instead of getting worked up about presents, packages and the stress of family holidays, choose to not only remember why we celebrate, but that none of those material things are lasting. When you choose to be kind, or go the extra mile for someone else, that is what is important and that is what will be remembered forever.

I want to challenge you to go out of your way to do something special for your package delivery service this season. If you are home, greet them with a smile and offer them something to drink. If you aren’t home get creative. You could set up a small table on your porch with some covered cookies, or an encouraging thank-you note. Honestly, something small will go a long way.

For all you online shoppers out there, happy shopping! Do something kind for your delivery service, make THEM feel special this holiday season.