What Can You Do?

A few weeks ago I had to have an oral surgery. The procedure had been planned for about a month prior and I thought it was good planning due to the weight loss that would come during recovery. A liquid and soft food diet right between two major eating holidays.

I didn't realize how much time I was going to lose as well, having this done so close to Christmas. I have been put to sleep for procedures in the past but I forgot about the energy it takes out of you and how forgetful you can become. Of course my boys found humor a few days later when I kept saying, "We talked about that?"

It was just this past week that I finally began to feel like myself again. I was really getting into the spirit of the season. We need to wrap those gifts, get those recipes made and...that's when I realized I had lost about two weeks time for enjoying those things. Now Christmas is upon us. Will we get everything done?

A few nights ago we had the pleasure of going to the Christmas program where our sons attend school. Our son in 4th grade was a part of singing songs that spoke to my heart. A reminder to enjoy the season by sharing it with others, "Do Your Giving While You're Living," "Lend a Hand."

Our oldest son, being in the 8th grade, took part in the play. What a wonderful story. A "small town" community church decided to raise money during the month of December. They would talk to the folks at the Salvation Army and bless the poorest family in town with the money raised.

The focus was on the particular ways a family from the church decided to go about raising money for the cause. A few days prior to Christmas the pastor of the church came to their door with an envelope. It had been decided that they would most benefit from receiving the church's gift. The news was not well received. Especially when the saw the amount of check and knew that they had privately given the majority of the amount.

They were determined not to use the money themselves but to pray and seek out someone who could use it more. In the end a missionary from Africa (my son) visited the church and shared about how the church there only had a grass roof that did not hold up well in rain.

As they were leaving church the family, a single mom and three teens, decided this was where the money should be given. They approached the missionary and asked him to please accept their gift. "Just say it came from the richest family in town."

What a blessing and an encouragement to be reminded it brings so much more joy to give than to receive. Maybe we won't get everything done we hoped to this Christmas season. We were able to do some prior to my procedure and now we're just pickin' up where we left off.