As a child, I remember my mom, as a single parent, struggling to make ends meet and then the holidays would be thrown on top of that. I remember a couple of gifts that she gave us, as kids, that meant the world to me; not because they were exactly what I wanted, but because I know that it cost my mom everything and was a true sacrifice. To most youngsters, getting a NKJV Study Bible is not super exciting, but I remember opening that box and knowing that it must have cost a fortune, one I knew my mom didn’t have to spend, and feeling like she had just given me the entire world. I remember getting a blue throw blanket with teddy bears on it that my mom knew I wanted, yet I knew there was no way she could afford that gift. I was so filled with love and joy when I opened my present and that blanket was inside. I know there were often holidays where people gave my mom money for groceries and gifts; if not for those people, some years we would have never had a Christmas.
As an adult, with a child of my own, I remember holidays where giving gifts sometimes was financially more of a challenge than others. I remember literally going through Felicity’s toys and picking out ones she hadn’t played with in months, clean them up, box them, wrap them and give them to her again simply because we had no money. And the joy on her face when she would say “Mommy, I had one just like this and lost it. Thank you mommy.” The joy on her face was priceless, even though it broke my heart that I had to take her toys and re-gift them; but the joy and excitement for her was just as if I bought it brand new. Again, I recall times when people bought gifts for us to give to Felicity, gave us money for gifts or the one year that our church family bought our family Christmas.
I guess these experiences made me who I am today and the fact that I love to give gifts. I love giving gifts for specific occasions, I love giving gifts when they are unexpected, I love listening to people and hearing their desires and being able to fulfill them, I love buying the gifts, I love wrapping the gifts in pretty packages, I love giving them, and I love seeing the expression on a person’s face when they open the gift. I just plain love giving gifts. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting gifts, but would rather give them any day! The holidays tend to be a time when we all think of giving gifts, listening extra hard to what people say they want and the desire to reach out to someone who has less than we do. It is the perfect time of year for people like me, who love to give gifts. When I give a gift I never think about what they will get me, I expect nothing back except the smile and joy on their face when they open their gift. Yes, I love getting gifts, but not a huge fan of surprises for myself so giving gifts is a great thing for me! My friends are so special and dear to me and giving gifts is my way of showing them how much I love and value them! However, nothing brings me more joy than seeing a child get a gift. A child has such innocence and are uninhibited when they open a gift; they scream, they shake, they cry, they have a smile that consumes their entire face. Beyond that, there is just something about a child getting a pretty wrapped package, shaking it, opening it (not afraid to tear the paper) and the joy and laughter that comes after they see what great thing is in that package. Their joy is so contagious. Holidays are the best time to watch children open gifts because they have taken time to make their lists and wait with total faith that the things on their list will be under that tree. And even though they are confident that the items on their list will be under that tree, they still are totally surprised and excited when they open the packages and see that item. Needless to say, if a child getting a gift brings me so much joy, a child without a gift during the holidays absolutely breaks my heart.
Through the years, as people helped us, I always swore that our family would pay it forward every year. We have always taught Felicity that it didn’t matter what we had under the tree, what mattered was that everyone had at least one gift under the tree. I remember one year our church did a stocking thing for children in need. Basically, a family paid $1 for a stocking and picked whether it would be for a boy or a girl and would fill the stocking up. Felicity was about 8 and she was very insistent that she get 2 stockings for little girls. When we asked her what she wanted to put in the stocking she proceeded to list off the the gifts she wanted. We had to explain to her that this was ok, but if we did that we wouldn’t be able to afford those items for her; she said “That’s ok mommy…this little girl needs a Christmas too.” So, we filled both stockings with the items on her list; a few days later, someone gave us an envelope with money that was the exact amount of the items in BOTH stockings, so we were able to buy Felicity those items too! Every year Felicity wants to make sure that other kids get Christmas and will always sacrifice her own gifts for other children. It melts my heart to see the heart of my daughter and she understands the true meaning of gift giving! She always gets her gifts, it may come a little after Christmas, but she never cares because children are her heart and their happiness is her gift!
This year is no different…I still love to give gifts. In fact, we have already been blessed to be able to give our first gift to someone and the reaction did not disappoint! We also have the opportunity to help a family that is dear to us, yet we have never met.
I don’t tell any of this for sympathy or for a pat on the back for what we do. Each person has life experiences that makes them passionate about something and they act on it. It takes ALL of us acting on what we are passionate about in order to change the world! I tell all of this to encourage everyone, during the holidays especially, to act on what you are passionate about that can change at least one person’s holiday season! It may be buying a gift for someone, having a family into your home for a meal, having coffee with someone who just needs to talk, serving at a homeless shelter, serving in your church, visiting the elderly, etc. There are always people out there that need a blessing that you can deliver and the sacrifice is always worth it! My heart is full of joy this season to know that God has blessed me so abundantly and will use me to bless someone else…after all, isn’t that what the season is all about?! God sacrificed His only Son, sent Him to earth to be born as a human for the purpose of later dying on the cross for me. The idea of giving sacrificially didn’t come from me or even from a human, but from our God! How awesome is that?!
This holiday season, I pray an abundant blessing over each one of you. I pray that your hearts be full of joy! Whether you are the one blessing someone this season or you are the one receiving the blessing…May your hearts be full of faith, hope, love and joy! And if you are the one receiving the blessing…I pray that God richly blesses you in the days, weeks, months to come so that you also can bless others in the same way!
