Christmas Time

The reason for this story is to somehow express what a divine Christmas the LORD gave to us when it could have been such a hard time. He reminded us of His love and His mercy and that He is so holy. We are told we may never know the identities of our mystery friend(s), so this is also an attempt to spread the word about how much our lives were changed because of you. Thank you for loving on us and for the outpouring of God’s mercy through you. We will never be able to repay you or bless you in the same way, but we pray that one day we are given the opportunity to bless someone else in this way. To GOD alone be the glory!

For those of you who served us, you know who you are, thank you!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Christmas time is such a wonderful time filled with the Spirit of the season. Scents of cinnamon and freshly baked cookies capture each home, and candy seems to overflow. Decorating homes, while your favorite Christmas music plays in the background, is a much-anticipated task discovering treasures that had been packed away the year before. The decorations seem to multiply when it is time to put them away at the end of the year, and we even wonder if we should go to all the trouble the next year, but as time marches on, we look forward to decorating and would never dream of letting our homes be un-Christmassy. Wrapping presents and finding that perfect gift for each one on our list encompasses our thoughts, and food seems to taste so much better during the holiday season.

Christmas for our family was very different one year. My husband had recently lost his job and what turned into a wonderful time of celebration fizzled into a time of sorrow and pain. I was pregnant with our second child, and the stress of the year-end events weighed heavily on my mind distracting me from a two year old and her first “real” Christmas. We were almost done buying presents for our families when the news of the job hit. Bills were being paid on time, but no more money was going to come in – a reality that hit all too hard and all too soon.

A trip to the grocery store was inevitable to get a few essentials for our family. Being pregnant, I drank sodas to calm an upset stomach, take away nausea, and settle any craving. I loved Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper. I spotted them in the aisle as I was buying groceries and thought, “I do not need to buy these soft drinks. They are $4.48, and I could use that money on something else for our family, like milk or diapers. I am so selfish. I will buy them this time, but I cannot buy them again.”

A day or two later, I went to our mailbox and to my surprise, there was a 12 pack of Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper sitting on my doorstep with a huge red bow so elegantly tied and a note that read my name. I carefully brought the prize inside and read the note. It said, “On the First day of Christmas, someone gave to me a 12 pack Dr. Pepper that was caffeine free.” My heart was so flooded with joy! I immediately started to cry because I felt so loved and cared for by a secret friend. I knew then, the LORD is our real joy, but He does care about every detail of our lives no matter how small. He was watching over me and in His sovereignty, He wanted me to feel loved on that cold December day.

To my surprise, the gifts continued. What I thought was a clever poem turned out to be the beginning of the twelve days of Christmas poured out on my family with the love of Christ.

Day Two came, and I was surprised to find another treasure. Two Sonic gift cards – one for me and one for my husband – occupied the mailbox. What sweet friends to obviously awake early each morning with our family on their minds. We rarely eat out because of the tight budget we were on before the loss of my husband’s job, but now to know that we could enjoy a meal together and not worry about how to pay for it was a blessing.

Day Three also came on the night of Day Two. As the LORD would have it, my husband had asked me to go see a popular movie earlier in the week, and I had responded with a quick “no” because we could not afford to spend close to $15 on entertainment and afford the gas to drive half an hour to the closest theater. Less than an hour had passed, and I received a phone call from a company I work for sometimes, and they were willing to pay me to go to the exact movie my husband had asked about. They were going to pay for my ticket and one for a friend and pay me thirty dollars for doing this task. The LORD had it in His divine plan for us to attend that movie, and He was going to provide for us just like in every situation. When we returned from the movie that night, we had another visit from our secret friends. Day Three consisted of three steaks for grilling – a delicacy and a wonderful treat. These blessings were getting bigger and bigger and overwhelmed our hearts.

Day Four came as a luxury for me. The cold rains that day had not deterred the dear, sweet friends from coming early that morning and placing a brown bag with a pink ribbon on the doorstep. The contents included a pair of fun pink socks, a beautiful striped scarf, matching hat, and ivory gloves – four winter accessories just for me. As the days progressed, I began to feel encouraged, and I even wanted to get up in the mornings. My true joy was founded in Christ, but life’s struggles can make it difficult to see through the clouds sometimes. Depression was rearing its head, and I did not fully understanding God’s plan in all of this, but because of little angels getting up early and loving on us, it was something to look forward to.

Day Five was a big surprise. Not only was it at the back door instead of the front, it was a huge cardboard box sitting on top of my husband’s car. It was so heavy one side of his hood was struggling to stay even with the other side. This box contained an envelope with five recipes inside – Aunt Rubye’s Ham, Corn Casserole, Parmesan Bacon Wraps, Chocolate Sauce, and Easy Chicken and Dumplings. And inside the box were the ingredients to make every single recipe down to the “salt to taste.” We were completely blown away by the amount of food delivered to our door. We were supposed to be struggling to make ends meet, yet we had a full refrigerator and pantry. We immediately began to think of whom we could bless with the blessings we had been given, add to that the fact that the two of us and our two-year old picky eater could never finish a ten-pound ham on our own.

The night of Day Five, my husband and I were trying to decide what gifts to order for our grandparents and great Aunts. We usually get them all the same gifts to make things easy for us. We had seven to buy for including my grandfather. Ordering coffee cups with our little one’s picture on them appeared to be the best option. Our total was going to be about $100, and I just could not “proceed to checkout.” I had hoped we could find something a little cheaper and something more unique than a coffee cup to sit with their other 6 million coffee cups.

On Day Six, we received a gift that made us refocus on the joy of giving at Christmas. We received six re-gift-able Christmas gifts already packed in pretty gold boxes. These gifts reminded us that while these daily surprises had been for us, we should seek to bless others with them as well. We quickly opened the boxes and found each box contained a beautiful ornament that played a different charming Christmas carol. Six ornaments would be perfect for our grandparents and great Aunts, excluding my grandfather who would probably be okay not receiving a rather delicate ornament. What a divine appointment and something the secret friend could not have known!

Day Seven brought seven chocolate chip cookies in a precious tin and a box of Lucky Charms. My little one and I loved cereal, and as things would happen, we had run out of cereal a day of two before that. What a blessing it was to pray over your meal and to be able to pray that the LORD would bless the ones who provided it.

Day Eight changed its focus from myself to our little one. Our two-year old received eight Christmas gifts just for her inside of a red and green storage container. She got a big box of diapers (just her style and size), a 42-ounce bag of M&M’s (someone knew she was rewarded with those while potty-training), Dora pajamas (her most favorite character), a huge tube of chocolate chip cookie dough , a cookie pan in the shape of a snowman with icing and candies to decorate with, Dora Bath Tub Fun Set Dora sippee cups, a new Dora DVD, and a pair of magenta boots (again, just her size). What another blessing that brought tears to my eyes to feel the love of Christ expressed by a humble earthly servant who was thinking of my family above themselves.

Later that day, my husband and I went to the real estate office to sign papers to put our home on the market. We had lived here for almost four years and until year three, our house had been just that – a house. But since then our house had become a home, and it was a difficult task to put it on the market and imagine our next baby being brought home to a different location. So that windy December day was a challenge. My little one and I made plans with some friends to go out of town for the day. They are a dear family who wanted to take our toddler to Jackson for a day of fun in celebration of her recent birthday. What a blessing! We spent the day laughing and enjoying their company. She loved the games and pizza at Chuck E. Cheese, and when she may have thought her day was over, she was treated to a shopping spree at Toys-R-Us. We were both overwhelmed by the goodness of their hearts. What a day that turned out to be!

Day Nine kept with Day Eight’s theme and provided nine stocking stuffers for our toddler. She received more M&M’s, three Christmas tree peeps, four chocolate Santa Clauses, Reese’s cups, Skittles, a Dora book, and panties. Of course, we had to hide these things from her, which disappointed her since she was involved in opening our prize daily.

Day Ten was a true treat! What woman doesn’t love a gift certificate to get a pedicure? And what a pampering, since I’ve always considered that to be a luxury!

Day Eleven made me feel special and loved. I received eleven things just for me including three maternity shirts, trouser socks, a beautiful necklace, a beautiful scarf, and personal items – toothpaste, deodorant, shave gel, soft lips chap stick, and mouthwash. What woman doesn’t love clothes, jewelry, and things just for her? To know someone had spent time shopping and picking out things just for me at a store miles and miles away, meant so much! Bless those, Oh LORD, who have blessed us!

Day Twelve brought the end of our Twelve Days of Christmas but not the end of our blessings. We received on our final day a dozen donuts and a Wal-Mart gift card worth quite a large sum of money. I think a feather could have pushed us over onto the cold hardwood floor as we unwrapped the box and saw the amount on the gift card. We knew we could buy gas, food, and any other item we might need with that love offering. With our small budget, it could pay for small expenses for almost an entire month! We were overcome with joy and humbleness by God’s graciousness poured out on our family in a time when we didn’t feel that we deserved anything, especially these blessings.

The night of Day Twelve, we were visiting with some friends when my husband had to run home. He turned into our alley and saw a familiar car leaving the other end. We had been blessed yet again with a carload of groceries. We were given too many things to name including meat, cereal, milk, juice, countless non-perishables, and another 12 pack of Dr. Pepper, caffeine free. Words cannot express the joy and heartfelt thanks.

We have been blessed far beyond the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” We were given monetary gifts over the holidays and were able to deposit more than a monthly house payment into the bank! Our loved ones have provided food as well: invitations to restaurants, bringing food by the house, or having us over for a family meal. Who but the LORD could be involved in our lives and in the lives of those who have blessed us?

The material blessings were incredible, but more than that, we were reminded of God’s love for us as His children. Even without these gifts lavished on us, we still knew the reason for Christmas and the Truth of the Gospel, which is our true joy. We did not need those things to fill us with peace, but it served as a reminder of God’s love and how He can use people to display that love. May we never forget to share the love of Jesus with those around us!