366 Days Ago

Our best Christmas came last year. Greg was losing his job and we had 5 little children, the youngest just a few months old. We had a little bit of warning that this loss was coming so we decided to buckle down and throw everything we could into savings. We wanted to be sure that we could keep a roof over our family and lights and heat and food on the table. We hoped that unemployment would be short but we just didn't know what was in store. Christmas was coming and there was no way that we could justify spending money on presents, not with uncertainty looming. Greg and I decided to make Christmas very small. We were going to spend $5 on the older kids and nothing for each other. This didn't feel like a sacrifice or a sad thing. It was just the right choice for our situation.

Fall 2013: the usual pre- pic chaos

Then our neighbors found out and decided to take care of things. Every year our little neighborhood does a Sub- For- Santa and they chose to bless our family. They filled our living room with gifts, things for each member of our family.  

We would come home at night and there would be more gifts and cards and jars full of coins in our screen door. This happened for days.  

One night the doorbell rang and Santa was standing there. He had a bag full of toys and a candy cane for each child. He greeted the kids by name, handed me an envelope then said "Merry Christmas" and drove away. We didn't recognize the car or the face or the voice, he was a complete stranger.  

When people gave us things I just cried. I could never make the words come out. Greg and I were so overwhelmed by the kindness of people that we knew and loved and by the generosity of strangers. For some reason they chose to bless our family in ways that might have seemed superficial and maybe non- essential but every gift that they gave meant so much more. They gave us the courage that we needed to face our coming trial. They reminded us that God above was watchful and mindful of our little family.  

That's why last Christmas was our very best ever. It was the year when we were only able to do a little tiny bit for our family but because of the grace of others it was the most plentiful time in our lives, not because of the overwhelming gifts but because of the love we were surrounded by. That's why a tiny baby came to earth over 2000 years ago, He was born to make up the difference and to do for us what we just can't do alone. That's the real meaning of Christmas; Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.