The gift only you can give

One Christmas many years ago, when Nelda, my grandmother, was in her 80's, she shared a tender story from her childhood with me. I later found out that my father himself never  had never heard this fragment of family history, so I treasure it all the more.

Nelda told me about a Christmas when her parents were truly struggling financially, barely earning enough money to put food on the table for their little family and still have enough left to pay the rent of their apartment. That December, even the most humble Christmas tree would not be a consideration.

However, Mimi, Nelda's mother, had a plan to celebrate the best she could with her children. She pulled out her box of tree ornaments, and she hung them on the back of the sofa, as a substitute for a tree, bringing a bit of festivity into their small apartment. According to Nelda, Mimi never acted as if there were anything unusual about using the couch as a Christmas tree that year, which allowed her children to feel more normal about their circumstances.

I've often thought about Mimi's courage and dignity in the face of adversity and pain. She used the little she had to encourage her young children, rather than bemoaning what she didn't have. Certainly, Nelda never forgot it, telling me about it some 80 years after that Christmas.

If you're having a good day in the midst of this season, use it to lift someone else up. Spend your strength and hope on those who are hurting, who need the gift of your encouragement. You know how stressful Christmas can be for many people, so it won't be hard to find targets of opportunity. 

Understand that sometimes that means simply being with someone who needs your presence not your presents. Or be willing to sit and grieve in silence with someone who's spending the first Christmas without that person they loved. If this is your first Christmas without a loved one, you may be the best person to share that pain with another, because you know exactly what it feels like.

And when your account of strength and hope is overdrawn, God promises to raise up someone to provide for you. Ask our loving Lord to send someone to share with you this very day. God bless you, my friend.

Of course, I don't mean you should give so much that you suffer from having too little. I only mean that there should be some equality. Right now you have plenty and can help them. Then at some other time they can share with you when you need it. In this way, everyone's needs will be met.

2 Corinthians 8:13,14