1998 was my first Christmas as a single parent. To say it had been a rough year is an understatement. If you’ve been there you know this - much of single parenting is limping through the challenges alone, and showing your children that everything is going to be ok, even when you’re not sure yourself. It's courageous - single parenting.
Determined to make this particular Christmas special, my focus was on fully saturating our little family of 2 with all things Jesus. So with that in mind, we did the obvious thing - we made Jesus a birthday cake, several of them actually. We sang Him happy birthday every day. And we read all the books, sang all the songs, and we talked about the real reason for the season. It was festive and fun, and my 3 year old wholeheartedly embraced the new traditions. But my Momma's heart was heavy.
While the reason for the season is indeed Jesus, and His incredible act of love - leaving perfect paradise to live and die for us - in my humanness I wanted to celebrate Jesus and watch my little girl open lots of awesome presents. I wanted both.
Like heavenly hands to my single mothers heart, there was a knock at the door.
To my surprise, sitting on my porch was an overflowing box of Christmas goodies. A secret Santa had left us a hamper full of food, wrapped and unwrapped gifts, and stocking stuffers that only another Mother could have chosen.
Speechless, and in awe of the kindness, I looked around for this hamper angel. Finding no one, I dragged this overflowing box of goodness into our home and sat down beside it. Tears of gratitude and joy ran off my face as I peered into this amazing package. Gifts for my little girl, beautiful things for me, and food to feed us for weeks - I had no words. A handwritten note attached to the outside read, “You’re doing a great job. We just wanted to bless you. Have a really wonderful Christmas ~ Love, Your Adopted Family”.
I have an adopted family? I wondered to myself.
After a few phone calls, I learned that my name had been put forward at my church and a family of 5 had chosen to adopt us. No further information was given and I never did find out who blessed us that Christmas. But, I will never forget this gesture of kindness.
I’ve had 22 Christmases since that day, and not one of them passes without a memory of how it felt to be on the receiving end of such a gift. Kindness counts. When we give of our time and our resources, people’s lives are changed.
This Christmas, if you are one of those Christmas angels, if you’re dropping some change in the kettle or sponsoring a family, if you’re sending goats or medical supplies, filling a shoe box, baking goodies for someone in need, or showing extra kindness to that elderly gentleman, single Mom, lonely person you meet, I just want to say Thank you. Thank you for being generous. Thank you for taking the extra few moments to bless. Thank you for acting on that thought you had and for facing the awkwardness that might show up. Thank you for thinking of us, even when things are busy and you have all kinds of others to think of.
Your kindness matters and many of us are changed because of it.
Thank you. Wishing you a really special Christmas ❤️