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by Stefanie Coutinho
It’s funny how Christmas changes everything--the look of the neighborhoods with all their light displays, the grand decorations in the malls, that "magical" feeling in the air. Even grumpy people seem to have a more cheerful disposition than usual. Some folks attend Christmas services at church, while for others the word "Christmas" brings memories of family gatherings. For kids, the pure delight in opening presents is what all the excitement is about.
Of all the ways we celebrate Christmas, one of the most meaningful is to give to others, from the heart. My friend Shauna shared with me this unforgettable story about how she and some of her girlfriends did just that.
"I remember going out for coffee with three good friends and chatting about the holidays," Shauna began her story. "There was so much to be done. Presents, cards, decorations. Then we started talking about family traditions."
And as they talked that evening, the four friends found that they all had been involved at some point in sharing Christmas with those in need. They would do things like volunteer at soup kitchens and organize Christmas hampers for lower income families. Having moved away from their parents’ homes, they realized that they were at the point in their lives where they were beginning to establish their own Christmas traditions.
"So together we decided that that’s what we would do. We loved the idea of helping someone out in a special way and we wanted it to be anonymous," Shauna said.
Why anonymous? "It has nothing to do with the people who do the good deed. If the anonymity is broken, everything is ruined. It becomes about this great thing we have done. The whole point of giving back to the community is that you think about someone else. If you make a big production of it, then it’s about you."
It is more blessed to give than to receive
As Shauna and her friends considered whom they could bless, they decided to ask Pastor Bernard, the benevolence pastor at their church, for the name of someone in need. Pastor Bernard thought immediately of a single Mom, Dawn, and her son. Her divorce was fairly recent and it had been a hard year for them financially.
The girls decided to pool all the money they would have spent to buy each other presents, and instead used it to buy the trappings of Christmas for Dawn and her son. They bought cheese, coffee, chocolate dipped cookies, oranges, Christmas crackers, presents and more holiday treats that are hard to fit into a tight budget.
"We were going to package the gifts in basket, but that didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore," Shauna said, smiling. "There was so much stuff that we had to pack it all into a two-foot square box. We couldn’t believe we were able to fill the box to overflowing with what little money we had!
"We dropped off the box at the church, where two men volunteered to deliver it to Dawn. They handed it to her saying, ‘Someone at the church left this for you. Merry
Christmas!’
"We don’t know too much about what happened after that. But Pastor Bernard did tell us that she phoned him at the church for the next few days trying to find out who had done such a thing for her and her son. He said she was in tears and was extremely thankful. Her son even played the entire day with the electric race car track we bought.
"Since Pastor Bernard was sworn to secrecy and couldn’t tell her who we were, she sent a thank you card to us through him. It was addressed, ‘To My Four Christmas Angels.’ Inside the card, she thanked us and said she couldn't believe that we would do this for her."
A good reminder
Being able to help a family in need made that Christmas meaningful for Shauna and her friends. In fact, it’s now part of their annual Christmas tradition. What she and her friends had done was a good reminder to them of what they had received as Christians--the assurance of eternal and abundant life. "We don’t deserve it. We’ve received it only because of God’s grace towards us," she explained.
Some of the best gifts given are those that go beyond the material things of this world to meet our deeper spiritual needs. Like Shauna’s gift, they spring from an unconditional love that we first meet in the Son of God, Jesus, who gave His life so that we may experience God’s wonderful plan for our lives.
In the Bible, it says that "God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other" (1 John 4:9-11).
All too often during Christmas, we get so wrapped up in the material things of this world and neglect the things of God that have eternal value. This Christmas as you plan on giving and receiving gifts, pray and ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Ask Him to show you how you can love someone with His pure love and impact his or her life positively. You can pray this prayer in faith, trusting that God will accomplish it in your life.
Dear Father, I thank You for sending Your Son Jesus that Christmas night so long ago. I realize that I have sinned against you by directing my own life and neglecting those things that matter most. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Jesus’ death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. I want to be a blessing to someone else this year so that Your love may spread into the lives of others. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. In faith, I thank You for directing my life and for empowering me with Your Holy Spirit.
God’s Spirit has the power to touch people’s hearts no matter who they are. Think about the people in your sphere of influence and ask God to use you to bless them this season. He will!
~Stefanie Coutinho is an editorial intern with Christian Women Today. The #1 item on her Christmas wish list this year is an acoustic electric guitar.
