Simply in God’s Word with Sara — The Christmas Story
My mom has had it on her heart for awhile to start sharing some stories, along with God’s Word on the blog. Our faith is a really big part of who we are & how our family cares for each other. Every year, my mom thinks of this story during the Christmas season & we thought it fitting that it be the first story she tells in her new series — Simply in God’s Word with Sara. Here we go!
The story I am going to tell you today took place on Christmas Eve of 2005. My husband & I have four children & at the time their ages ranged from 9 to 1.
We had already opened our gifts together & were traveling across the state to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family. Our son got a Nintendo DS that year which was such a big deal to him & he was playing it as we were driving. My husband & were talking about how we hoped our kids really understood the true gift of Christmas & how we wanted to be sure we were teaching them to be generous to others & not just focus on what they received themselves. So we came up with an idea..
We told the kids that we would be stopping in Hays & we would be giving each of them (except the 1 year old) $20 to give to anyone they wanted. We talked about the joy of giving & that not all people have as much as we do. The kids were VERY excited & they started to make a plan! We prayed as a family that God would send people to us that could use an extra blessing. Alli wrote a note to put with each $20 bill that said, “May God bless you this Christmas!” We told them we would take them anywhere in Hays that they wanted to go, so Alli (age 9) & Ethan (age 6) began to discuss the best place to go. They decided the hospital would be a great option. So that is where we headed. I silently prayed that God would really bless what we were doing. As a mom, I had expectations in my head of what this whole situation was going to look like. I pictured kind reactions from the recipients & that our children were really going to be praised & feel so good for doing this. I also had a picture in my head of what the people would look like that our children would choose to give their money to. Well, let me tell you. GOD HAD DIFFERENT PLANS…
It was snowing out, so we decided we would go inside to the waiting room of the hospital. So there we were, mom & dad with 4 bundled up kids standing in the waiting room looking at each person that came through the doors. Randy & I were trying hard to keep our opinions to ourselves & let our children pick who to choose, trusting God to show them. Several people came through & we would ask the kids & they would say, “no, not them” over & over. Finally, a young married couple came in & Alli looked at us & said, “them! I want to give it to them!” So she & I walked up to them & Alli handed the money to the wife & said, “May God bless you this Christmas!” She took the money with a quick & quiet thank you & they kept walking. As they walked away, she handed the $20 to her husband & he held it up to the light. Well kids are perceptive & right away they asked us why they were holding it up to the light. We had to explain that they were checking to see if it was real money. Our kids were shocked & disappointed. They couldn’t believe that someone would think we would do that. Needless to say, round one did not go quite as I had pictured in my head.
We stood there a while longer waiting for Ethan to find who he wanted to give his money to. Eventually we saw an older gentleman wearing a grey uniform walking our way. Ethan said, “I want to give it to him!” Ethan & I walked his way. Ethan handed him the money & said, “May God bless you this Christmas!” The gentleman who looked to be a janitor or maintenance man for the hospital, snatched the money from Ethan as he was opening a door to the maintenance room & went in, closing the door behind him. Not even a thank you this time. Ethan was disappointed. Again, round two did not go quite as I had pictured in my head either.
Over time these two verses have really stood out to me & I believe they are the lesson our family was meant to learn from our time at the hospital.
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. -2 Corinthians 9
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4
Back to the story…
Up next was Bethany (age 3). She decided she wanted to go to Walmart so we headed back out to the van & drove to there. By this time, the snow was really coming down & there was quite a bit on the ground already. Randy & I weren’t sure that going into the store was the best idea though, so we started out in the parking lot. Here we are, all 6 of us traipsing around as we kept pointing out people to Bethany & she kept saying no, over & over. We were getting cold & a bit grumpy, so we decided to go inside after all. All 6 of us stood in the produce section looking & pointing out people coming in the doors to Bethany to see if they were the ones. Finally, Bethany pointed into the store & said, “Him! I want to give the money to him!” I turned around & saw who I thought she was pointing at & thought to myself surely not. I bent down & said, “where?” She pointed at the same man again. I looked over at Randy with wide eyes & he was looking right back at me with the same look. He said, “go!” nervously. The man she was pointing at was incredibly tall with long grey hair. He was wearing jeans tucked into big black biker boots & a leather biker jacket & gloves. Where was the sweet little old lady I had pictured in my head?! Reluctantly, I went with Bethany. The man was walking next to his wife who was pushing the cart. It took Bethany’s three-year-old legs a bit to catch up to them, but we finally got to them in the busy area behind the checkouts. Bethany tapped him on the back of the knee a couple of times. As he turned around, she reached up with the money & said, “May God bless you this Christmas,” in the tiniest little voice. The gentleman took the money & opened the note that Alli had written for each of them. By this time, Randy & the other 3 kids had joined in behind us. That giant of a man got down on one knee to look Bethany in the eyes. He thanked her for such a kind gift & asked if he could pray for her & her family. Right there in the busy area of Walmart on Christmas Eve we gathered in a circle & on his knees, he took Bethany’s hands & this man prayed over our entire family.
1 Samuel 16:7 says, But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord does not see as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Friends, I had looked on his outward appearance & I had judged him. But God knew his heart & I am so thankful He did. What a sweet lesson & memory that our family reflects on each Christmas season!
In honor of my mom’s first devotional-style blog post, what better company to collaborate with than TheModernVerse! She has a darling shirt collection that spreads the love of Christ through apparel. Check out my Instagram post from today to enter our giveaway!
