A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to purchase Christmas gifts for a little boy in our community. This is something we've done for the past 10 years or more. We usually adopt a little girl and boy.
Given how I grew up, you can probably guess how I feel about providing for children. That's the reason we happily buy Christmas gifts or pay for kids to go to church camp. It's a joyful sacrifice.
The truth is that I was one of those kids.
We had nothing. When I say we, I mean us kids. We didn't have clothes without holes or stains. We didn't have shoes that fit. There were years when I had no underwear or socks. We didn't have treats cause we barely had edible food. We sometimes ate rotten food because that's all we were allowed. We had nothing.
My parents income qualified us for food stamps and government foods like rice, cheese and peanut butter. So, I know that we were poor.
I say that with a caveat. My parents had everything they wanted. They had food, clothes and lots of luxuries. My dad made a lot of money on the side. My dad didn't do drugs, but he sold them. With that and the cash from prostitution, him and my mom didn't want for anything.
We ended up on the angel tree at the bank for multiple years. I remember getting excited when Santa brought lots of gifts and candy for us. The excitement was short lived. Every gift was taken by my parents. What they didn't keep, they sold or used as gifts for other people. Not in any of the years did we ever get anything.
I know every time we've bought gifts for these kids, I have wondered and hoped that they had better parents than me.
As a Christian, I've often had the chance to be reminded of how God has changed my life, even before I knew Him. I could have, should have, would have continued to live in poverty and need if God hadn't led me to my husband and waited patiently for me to turn to Him.
It's humbling to think through that. Think about these needy families and to know I was one of them. I look around my house and my life and know that I went from having nothing to having an abundance.
When we shop for these kids, we buy things they want like Legos and things they need like clothes. We always add blankets, hats, gloves, puzzles, books and candy. We pray over all of it. We thank God for the chance to give and be the hands and feet. We pray for the family, that they would get to a more stable financial position. We pray for the family and child, that they know these gifts are ultimately from God. We pray for the child, that they would know how much they are loved and that someday they know the joy of giving back.
Don't get me wrong, what my parents did is wrong. They screwed us up for years to come. They stole a lot of joy from is that can never be given back. However, without my experience, the joy might not be felt as deeply and what God's done in my life may not seem quite a big.
No comments:
Post a Comment