Christmas Blessings Galore

I haven't blogged in a while, but mainly because I've been thinking a lot about the purpose of Christmas, and how to make sure my kids know the meaning of Christmas. And, I've been thinking about how not to spoil them, and how to hold myself back from buying them the things want. Joey and Maddox have always received three gifts for Christmas- pajamas, a book, and a toy. The "three" was to represent the three gifts that Baby Jesus received, although the three means nothing to them yet. Maybe someday it will be four or five or six, but for now, I'm keeping it at three. Plus, in lieu of buying our kids more, we adopt a family through church so we really can't afford to go all out at this point. But, the problem is that Joey has been asking for this "Alien Maker" now recently, and for the "Jokermobile"- a new car that would go with his Batcave. And, I really, really want to get him both. But, he's getting so many gifts from so many of his aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins, that I can't justify it. So, I'm in a pickle.

Meanwhile, we adopted a family through our church with our friends, Wes and Amy. We went shopping with them and picked them out some necessities, and some things they truly wanted- a movie, a book, etc. This year, we were given a family with two teenagers and a ten-year-old so that makes it a little bit harder. We did our best and also got the mom some gifts, as well as filling a big laundry basket with groceries- peanut butter, jelly, pasta, detergent, soap, cookie mixes, potatoes, and more. We set out to deliver it last Sunday night. Joe and I were tired and were kind of ready to check it off our list, to be honest. So, we arrived at 7 p.m. to meet Julie. Her kids were all at church. As soon as the door opened, she immediately said, "Thank you, thank you so much, you don't know how much I appreciate this." We came inside her house...her kitchen was falling apart and was very small. The living room was just big enough to fit a loveseat couch and a t.v. and a Christmas tree. She lives there with her sister who is unable to work because of diabetes. Her sister has 3 kids, she has 4. 7 kids, a loveseat, 3 bedrooms in a duplex...my heart ached as I stood there talking to her. She probably said "thank you" no less than 19 times. Julie is a waitress at Ted's Coney Island. She's worked full-time at this job for 7 years, and this year is especially hard because her hours at work were cut to 15-20 per week, making her paycheck $238 every two weeks. A whopping $476 a month to live on - and I assume she supports her sister and kids as much as she can. She told us that this year, our gifts are it. Her kids will receive no other gifts, because they simply can't afford it. She said this will be the first year that she will not do any Christmas shopping at all. It's hard for me to even write this, which is why it's taken me so long to blog about this experience. Julie said how much these gifts meant to them and said she prays every night for a "miracle"- she said all she has now is prayer. We all offered her our prayers and she gave us a card on our way out and BIG hugs for each of us. I loved that.

You see, here's this lady who has 4 kids to support, a part-time job, a sister with diabetes, a mother in a nursing home in northern Iowa....but she found time to make us a homemade card that said, "Peace. Love. Happiness." That's what I call faith.

We got in the car and I cried the whole way home and we sat in silence mostly. I definitely had a heavy heart. In fact, I think Joe would have let them all move in with us, just so I would stop crying. And, I've prayed for Julie, her sister, her mom (Mary) and her kids every night - and ask that you do the same. I remember a sermon Pastor Mike gave and he asked, "What would your faith look like if you had nothing? What would God mean to you if you lost everything?" and I often wonder what the answer would be. But, I saw what it meant for Julie and was in awe.

When I got home, it was difficult to look at a toybox full of toys, drawers full of clothes, a refrigerator full of food and listen to the heat running, our computer buzzing, a dvd playing...how blessed we are, and how many times we take those blessings for granted.

Julile and her kids taught me the meaning of Christmas this season - tis better to give, than to receive....and if you have faith, you have everything you need. Remember that Alien Maker and that Jokermobile? I think we'll be just fine.