Just Carrying Christmas Down the Street
This morning I helped with the delivery of our church's Christmas baskets to needy families in our community. Our folks are abundantly generous and our benevolence team is the best. Usually our church adopts 10-15 families with a gift for each person in the family and a turkey with all the trimmings for Christmas dinner, but this year our team chose a different approach. We adopted six large families in our community, each one in the grip of harsh circumstances, and pulled out all the stops. Our people responded with an overflowing, overwhelming Christmas for each family. So, we were all very blessed and tickled to see the surprise and appreciation as we made our deliveries.
For my part, I loaded up my Honda and headed off to find a big green house not far from our church. The woman at the door had been called and was expecting me. I carried in the first of my six loads from the car and she thought I was done. I smiled and assured her there was much more to come. Her house was old and sparsely furnished, but neat and clean. A small Christmas tree had been decorated, but no presents were under the tree. She showed me the pictures on the wall of her three boys, her nephews, who she and her husband had taken in, rescuing them from a far worse fate. And, they have a little baby of their own. She said they had spent all they had on legal bills from the custody battle. There was no money left for any kind of Christmas.
As I put the boxes of food on the dining room table, she told me how the boys had told her and her husband that they didn't really need presents or Christmas this year. They just wanted a home with them, a safe place where they could be a family. "Santa can give our presents to other kids this year." She wiped the tears from her face as she talked.
I gave her a hug before I left. "Don't ever forget, God loves you and there really are people who care right down the street. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas." In just a moment her world had changed, touched by a simple act of love - love from people she has never met, from a church she has never attended, sent by a loving God who never ceases to amaze me. I have never heard these words from a more sincere heart: "Thank you so much. Thank everyone. Merry Christmas."
For my part, I loaded up my Honda and headed off to find a big green house not far from our church. The woman at the door had been called and was expecting me. I carried in the first of my six loads from the car and she thought I was done. I smiled and assured her there was much more to come. Her house was old and sparsely furnished, but neat and clean. A small Christmas tree had been decorated, but no presents were under the tree. She showed me the pictures on the wall of her three boys, her nephews, who she and her husband had taken in, rescuing them from a far worse fate. And, they have a little baby of their own. She said they had spent all they had on legal bills from the custody battle. There was no money left for any kind of Christmas.
As I put the boxes of food on the dining room table, she told me how the boys had told her and her husband that they didn't really need presents or Christmas this year. They just wanted a home with them, a safe place where they could be a family. "Santa can give our presents to other kids this year." She wiped the tears from her face as she talked.
I gave her a hug before I left. "Don't ever forget, God loves you and there really are people who care right down the street. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas." In just a moment her world had changed, touched by a simple act of love - love from people she has never met, from a church she has never attended, sent by a loving God who never ceases to amaze me. I have never heard these words from a more sincere heart: "Thank you so much. Thank everyone. Merry Christmas."
Comments
Just wanted to come by and wish you a very blessed, fruitful, Christ filled New Year. Although, I don't always leave a comment, I visit here often and read your wonderful posts. You are a blessing to so many! Thank you for always inspiring me. Happy 2010!