A Christmas to Remember!

Where have I been, you might ask! Well...I have a foundation for the needy and this is a very busy time of year for me. I don't think that I have even taken time to answer all of your past e-mails and I am sorry about that! Just know that I am missing you all and I am anxious to get back to talking, sharing and hearing from my blogging friends. I know that I must be missing out on all the wonderful things that you are doing, but I will catch up soon!

I would like to share with you the story of how I got started with helping the needy and hopefully let you see why it is I do what I do.
I call it...

A Christmas to Remember

Nineteen years ago I went over to my aunt's house for Christmas dinner. My cousin that had been living in Tennessee was there with her nine little children. Just as I started to load my plate with food, one of her children, a 7 year old boy, walked up to me and said, "We are so poor!" I said, "No honey, we are so blessed, look at all the family we have." He said with a sad little face, "You don't know what I mean! We didn't get anything for Christmas." I asked him if he got something in his stocking and he told me no that they didn't have any stockings! He said that they didn't even get a candy cane and that they had no tree. He then mentioned that their father had painted a board red and tied rope in the end for all of the children to share as a sled. That was their one and only gift!

I went to find my mother and to inquire of my aunt if this was true. She said that it was indeed, and that she had no knowledge of it until a couple of days before. She had gone over to their house and found that there was no food in the cupboards and only a half gallon of milk in the fridge, along with a bottle of catsup and mustard. That was all! I took my mother by the arm and said, "Come on, we have work to do!"

We immediately left to go see if we could find a gas station or something open so we could purchase items to fill stockings for them. We gathered all sort of things...from hairbrushes, socks, gloves, gum and candy, anything and everything. Next, I called a few friends to see if they had any gifts that they had opened that morning that were the wrong sizes for their children that they would like to donate or that I could buy from them.

Within minutes the word spread of this family's situation, and by the time I got home, my house was full of neighbors and their children bringing in gifts and ready to go to work. My house literally became a Santa's work shop, everyone singing Christmas carols as they worked to gather, sort, and wrap gifts.

Several women brought their sewing machines over and we started cutting out stockings and a Santa bag from some red fleece and white fur that I had on hand. It didn't take long until we had wonderful stockings for the whole family, stuffed to the hilt with all sorts of goodies!

The men went out and gathered a lantern and a couple of new sleeping bags from someone that had received double. They gathered food and items for the mom and dad. My father even brought in his favorite Christmas gift that he receives each year...his case of oranges. Believe me, that was a sacrifice for my father. He loved his oranges!
 
Upon hearing the news of this family and seeing that there was no Christmas for these kids, my nine year old son went off secretly to his bedroom and rewrapped his entire Christmas to give to the little boys. When he bought it out and showed it to me, it touched my heart in such a way that I will never forget. I asked him if he wouldn't at least like to keep just one thing and his reply was, "No mom, I don't need it, because I already have enough stuff and they don't have anything!"  This giving heart of my little son taught me what Christmas was really all about....sacrifice and giving!

By four o'clock that afternoon we had pulled together a most wonderful Christmas for this family. We loaded it up and went back over to my aunt's house to drop it off. The family was not there! They had taken the children and gone into the city to see all of the decorations and the lights, saying that they would return later that evening. It was perfect timing! We hurried and filled the living room with all of the gifts and left.

Later that evening when the family returned, the children opened the door to come in and saw all of the toys and presents. They immediately began screaming and jumping up and down. One of them said, "I knew there was a Santa and I knew he would find us!"

This has so changed my life! It has given Christmas a greater meaning. I knew then, if there is one, there are many and we must find them! For my cousin it was not something she would have asked for...but when given...she so gratefully received with tears of joy.

I will just leave you now with a poem that I wrote a couple of years later that expresses the way I feel in my heart about what Christmas means to me.

No Greater Gift

Amid the hustle-bustle

the Christmas season brings,

I noticed one thing missing,

one simple little thing.

I’ve time for this and time for that,

 for everything you see.

But what about the Savoir,

what have I given Thee!

With Christmas fast approaching

 and all the gifts brought in,

I failed to even think,

He gave His life for sin.

It’s true for you; It’s true for me.

His love He freely gave

So with true repentance

we won’t remain a slave.

The greatest gift,

the Atonement, He did impart

If we would accept Him

and open up our heart.

No greater gift can we give

Christ, the Begotten son,

Than to give service back

to each and everyone.

“When you have done it

unto the least of these,

remember I have said,

you’ve done it unto me.”

Rae Ann Nilson

Love to you all at this Christmas time. I hope it will be a wonderful season of love for you and that you will find joy in all that you do!