Self-Less Christmas
My husband is an Elder at our church and he and our Pastor were talking together and they got to talking how life has gotten so busy and our world is full of gimmes, you know the gimmes–give me this give me that and no one ever being satisfied. They felt it on their heart to do something about this and came up with a Self-Less Christmas they wanted to encourage and promote at our church. My husband (Eric) came to me and asked me if Dottie knew something we could do as a family to work towards this. Eric knows how dear Angel’s Attic and Dottie are to my heart and how when ever I am given an opportunity I sing their praises.
It so happened I was bringing some stuff down to the attic and got a chance to talk to Dottie who shared with me how they had gone to Belle Glade to the migrants and found children under a weathered tent in the cold without jackets or coats or even proper clothing for such weather and how appreciative they were for the things Dottie was able to bring down. She also told me how they were planning on going back if they could with more stuff.
I cried all the way home thinking of these children with no coats. You see that morning I fought with my 4 yr old over a coat. It was very cold and I wanted him to wear the warm fluffy jacket and he didn’t want to. I kept thinking how blessed we were to be able to have that fight, that we had that warm jacket and those children out in the cold who did not. They weren’t far away or in another country, they were just a couple hours south of where we lived. I called Eric and told him about it and when I got to the words, they were out in the cold and they don’t even have a jacket to put on I started crying all over again. We talked to Dottie and told her count us in we want to go and help.
I know sometimes all our technology is a bad thing but I thought I would use our church’s prayer chain (email) and also Facebook to put out a plea to my friends asking if they had any extra warm clothes or blankets, any that they skinnied out of or fatted out of let me know and I would pick them up and told them all about these children who had nothing. I got lots of responses and a friend from another church who put it out to her church and all their sister congregations. She and her family wanted to go along to Belle Glade too. I can not even begin to explain the excitement and feeling of joy that was building here.
My friends and church family donated two mini vans full top to bottom (all seats out with the exception of the driver/passenger), just for this one trip. When the day came to deliver we took two vans packed full top to bottom, an SUV loaded top to bottom, and a pick-up truck full. I am also happy to say more stuff keeps coming so I am able to keep bringing more stuff down to Dottie and Angel’s Attic.
The thing we noticed when we got near the area was it was as if time stopped a few decades back. The area was almost backwards. As we approached where we were heading you could see the obvious poverty to this area. We pulled in and began unloading. The kids all helped and the children there were all very polite and full of smiles. They were not just happy to see us they were thrilled to see us. Once we got everything unloaded we then unloaded the bags and put them out on the table. The Pastor there talked to us and told us about their program and the people they help.
Finally it was time to pass out the stuff we brought and it amazed me how patient everyone in need waited. I saw no greed, just patience and appreciation. I never in my life would have thought I would see teenage boys so happy to get a blanket and a windbreaker that had belonged to an old man (Lions Club). I saw that same teenage boy showing off his blanket and hand me down jacket. He was happy to have that. There was this one precious little 2-3 yr old little girl who had a pair of shoes that were too small and Praise God we had a pair that did fit her so she left with shoes on her feet,blanket, and a jacket. The shoes she had that were too small were then put back into our pile so someone else went home with those. There were a whole bunch of kids there, all ages and all waited patiently and orderly, no one had to be talked to and they were all very appreciative of what we brought. There were no parents there, they were out in the sugar cane fields and so the kids picked, then when the mothers were done in the fields they would pick from what was left.
I am so glad we were able to go, for my boys to see this, to see how close these people are to home, to see how much need there is and really what NEED is (not that newest game station or phone but a BLANKET and a JACKET!). I am so glad we went as a family and we were able to help and I am looking forward to doing it again. It opened our eyes and broke our hearts, brought us closer as a family and it gave us the opportunity and the blessing to be the hands and feet that we are called to be and I am thankful for this experience.
