Oh, my it has been a long time since I have written. I promise to do better! SO much has gone on in the past 6 months!
I listen to Christmas songs, as it gets busy here at the station and enjoy getting the EAGLE's list of Christmas songs ready to play each year. I truly feel Christmas spirit is captured and passed along, perfectly, in song. Through the words and music we hear, with humor, dreams of home and family, songs about the birth of Christ and just good old, feel good, Santa songs. Fun songs. Christmas songs hold so much and I LOVE that!
We get ready for the holidays and I tend to reflect on a lifetime of Christmas memories. SO many of the my memories aren't about gifts bought from the store. They are precious memories of family, friends, the smells and traditions of Christmas. My 'song' of the holidays. the past present and future.
My most vivid memory is of my dad reading the Christmas story every year from the Bible. He also, would read us the story of The Little Match Girl. A tale by Hans Christian Anderson. This story succeeded, in relating to us, as children, how BLESSED we truly were. Christmas was NOT about how many presents someone got. It was about each other.
The Little Match Girl is the story of a little girl who has to sell matches, because her family needs the money. She instead uses the matches, one by one, to stay warm, until there are no more...a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet, in the cold on a dark street. She crept along trembling with cold and hunger--a very picture of sorrow. What was it like after all to look into a window and see the warmth and laughter of a family together at Christmas? To this day, I find myself peering out my window into the darkness and envision the little girl...it brings me to a place of true thankfulness.
Days will go by and just as I start to 'slip', in remembering to be thankful, it seems I am reminded, of what Christmas should be TRULY about. Whether it's something my child has said or some act of kindness I observe, it's always just as I start to feel bad about not being able to BUY this or that, having focused on what Christmas ISN'T about, even if only for a moment.
I am brought to the realization, someone ALWAYS has it worse and we must be thankful for what we DO have and try to give to those that don't. Even a smile, can do wonders. After all, a smile is free and something always welcomed this time of the year!
This year, I was shown the beauty of giving, by our EAGLE listeners. One listener especially. We have been collecting non-perishable food items for TJ Auto Repair's Annual Christmas food drive. TJ's helps feed families each year. This year on the eve of Thanksgiving, A woman heard us on the radio talking about feeding families and asking our listeners for their help. We did the show from TJ's. I left and later that night received a phone call from Katrina at TJ's. She said she had to share what happened after I left and wanted to pass along the Thanksgiving cheer.
A man had stopped by TJ's, for his sister, Liz. Liz didn't want to wait until Christmas to help...She sent her brother to TJ's with not only a turkey for a family in need, but everything to go with it! The turkey, stuffing, salt & pepper, the roasting pan, foil. EVERYTHING needed to prepare and have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal! This act of kindness was so touching... especially after I heard the rest of the story..
Katrina called the Women's resource Center, who was thrilled for the phone call. Apparently, they had already dispersed the donations they received to families in need. BUT they had received a phone call from a women that morning, who was in tears. This woman had 3 young children and no meal for Thanksgiving. The women's Resource Center took her number, just in case. Because of this ONE EAGLE listener's thoughtfulness and generosity, The woman and her children were contacted and received the Thanksgiving meal and everything to prepare it with!
Who knows where peoples paths in life takes them, or what things change a heart. Maybe this act of kindness meant more than anyone of us will know, to this mother. Possibly, giving her a new faith in people or a renewed spirit of the holidays? One thing in which I am confident. This woman, no matter where her life is, or the daily struggles she has, for a day, a moment, she could enjoy peace. She could watch her children eat, laugh and smile. This thought, certainly, renewed MY spirit.
The holidays shouldn't be lost in the money and material trappings, but instead, be encompassed with love, faith and joy. We spend money every year on things that will be put on a shelf, broken or forgotten.
This year, spend a little on food and donate it. Purchase a gift for a child. A gift for a child who would otherwise not receive one.
Bring the magic and spirit of Christmas to someone who's life it will REALLY touch. That, my friends, is a gift that will NEVER be forgotten, put on a shelf or broken.
Remember the Little Match Girl. Remember HER 'song'.
An act of kindness not only affects the life of the ones who receive, but of those who give. And, for those who observe such self-LESS-ness of one, and joy of another, is in itself, a priceless gift. For that I am thankful.
