christmas presence.

Where the heck did this month go? Where did this year go for that matter? I am amazed that we are 6 days until Christmas and less than two weeks from 2011. I have tried to slow down this holiday season and focus on why and what we are celebrating. In everything our family has done, I have tried to make this Christmas about Christ. There have been many discussions about presents with the boys. Receiving gifts and making wish lists is probably the thing that kids look forward to most. I've stopped Jeb and Griffin several times when they have gone on and on about what they were hoping for for Christmas, and reminded them that it's so much more than the presents on Christmas morning. We talked extensively about it at church today, telling the children that Jesus is the best gift we could ever receive. They know this to be true, but they almost answer dutifully with sullen eyes. You know that look. The "I know, I know" look. I think it will be something that they personally have to gain a testimony of as they mature. No one can give them that, they'll need to find it for themselves.
A special moment we had this week had to do with our "Christmas Jar". We have kept a mason jar on the kitchen counter since January and we have filled it with pennies and spare change through out the year. It filled up slowly but by last week it was reaching the brim and we counted the change. It totaled $32. Not a lot of money, but pretty good for spare pennies. We talked about what to do with the money. We decided to give it to someone we felt needed it. The boys and I set out to find the one person... but how we would know who that person was, we weren't sure.
The boys looked for anyone holding a "will work" sign. It seems like over the past few weeks we have seen men and women almost everywhere holding signs. They were at every stoplight, intersection, and strip mall. Tonight however, not one person could be found. I suggested that maybe the person we were meant to give the jar to wasn't out that night. We went home. We tried again the next afternoon after school, and again not one person asking for change was seen. We started home when Jeb noticed a woman walking through the desert pushing a shopping cart. She could be any one's grandma. Her hair was wrapped carefully in a scarf, her shoes were worn through, and a tattered winter coat was the only thing keeping her warm. Her plastic grocery bags and a suitcase in the cart were carefully and neatly arranged. She was dirty, but somehow she took pride in what she had and took care of her meager belongings. We stopped the car and took a gift bag filled with scriptures, some can food, a hygiene kit, and a sweatshirt to the woman. We said hello and she looked startled but quickly smiled sweetly at the boys. We asked if we could give her a gift and she meekly said yes. We gave the bag to her along with a Christmas card with the money we saved from the jar. She thanked us profusely, and said that she stayed at the mission and could share some of the food and other items with people there "that really needed it". I was blown away. Here a woman who had nothing wanted to give what she had just received. She wanted to share this little gift with others. Jeb and Griffin were so tender with the lady. They wished her a merry Christmas and talked with her for a moment. I watched their eyes as they realized what she had and how she lived. I think she taught us a lesson in giving and gratitude that day. She reminded us that it's not about the presents, but about His presence.