[Faith-talk] Christmas Gifts by Ruth O'Neil

[Paul]

Do you remember the most enjoyable Christmas holiday you ever had?

The year we bought a new house, my whole family was able to come and stay for a week.  Since we live in three different states and do not often get to see each other, it was absolutely wonderful to be together again.  Believe it or not, I enjoyed having fifteen extra people in my house for a week! The children loved it because there were enough presents under the tree to take up half of our living room.

As nice as that Christmas was, there was one other that topped being with my family.  It was a Christmas when our entire church got together and bought presents for a missionary family that we supported.

They had been through a horrendous year with finances, health problems, and spiritual struggles within the church they were starting.

One of the ladies in our Bible study group heard that the family was not going to do much for Christmas.  The money just was not available to buy many gifts, and the mother's health had been so poor that she had not even had the energy to put forth much effort into decorating the house.

That was when five women from our church stepped in.  We invited everyone else to get involved and buy presents for the family.  Later, just before Christmas, the five of us spent three hours wrapping presents.  There was a lot of talking, but there was much more wrapping.  There were literally piles of presents for each member of the family.

After cramming all the gifts into one woman's car, she made a road trip from Virginia to Massachusetts to deliver a Christmas surprise.  She had to go alone because there was not enough room in her car to fit even one small person.  The reports she came back with of all the smiling faces she saw made it worthwhile to us who had worked so hard.  Actually, we hardly considered it work!

That year, the spirit of Christmas was more real to all of us than any other before or since because we were able to show the love that Christ brought with Him when He was born into this world.  It was the kind of love that He would have shown.

It is the sincere hope and prayer of the undersigned that these devotional articles presented to you have been a blessing.  Until tomorrow when, Lord willing the quotes will be resumed, I remain your obedient servant of the One who lived an earthly existence, died and now lives forever to bring us His salvation and peace, Paul Barnabas.