This one was just so simple and good, I hope it blesses you as it did me this morning.
(I know it looks long but it's worth the read)Today’s Truth"Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measure to you." --
Luke 6:38Friend to Friend
Of all the Christmases that Mike Wekall remembers, his seventh stands out from all the rest. Mike was the fifth of six Wekall children. Like every child, Mike met December with the anticipation of new toys, freshly baked goodies, glittering decorations, and school vacation. But one week before Christmas, Mike’s parents called the children into the den."Kids, I’ve have some bad news for you," Mr. Wekall said, barely able to look his children in the eye. "As you know, things have been pretty tight at work this year. In fact, we are going to have to file bankruptcy, so we won’t have Christmas this year. I’m sorry. Maybe we can make it up to you next year." Then he quietly walked out of the room.The children just sat there for a while in silence. Mike thought to himself, "What does he mean 'we won’t have Christmas'? Does that mean I’ve been bad and Santa isn’t going to come? And what is bankruptcy?"It was a confusing time for little Mike, but one thing became perfectly clear on Christmas morning--Christmas had not come to the Wekall house. No presents were under a tree, and the aroma of a roasting turkey did not come from the kitchen.
The family did, however, go off to church that crisp, cold morning. When they arrived at church, all the other children were sporting new clothes and chattering about what they had found under their trees."Hey, Mike, what’d you get?" one asked.“Nothin'. We didn’t have Christmas at our house.
We’re having a bankruptcy.""What's wrong?
Have you been too bad to get anything? Didn’t you even get a few switches?"
Feeling rather blue, the family of eight went home for a lunch of lima beans and hamhocs.
About an hour later, the door bell rang. "Maybe it is Santa after all," Mike thought as he ran to the door.Standing in the doorway wasn’t Santa, but it was the Bosky family, all ten of them. Each of the eight children had smiles on their faces and two gifts in their hands. Mr. and Mrs. Bosky held a turkey dinner with all the trimmings.As it turned out, the eight Bosky children went home from church and told their parents about how the Wekalls weren’t having Christmas this year. Seeing how they had been so richly blessed, the children decided to pick two of their toys and wrap them up for the Wekalls. Mom and Dad joined in and brought gifts for the parents. Even though Mrs. Bosky had Christmas dinner all choreographed for her own dining room, she gathered up the food in boxes and baskets to share with a family who needed it more.
That was over forty years ago, but Mike still gets tears in his eyes when he shares this story. "It was the best Christmas I have ever had," he told me.
"The Spirit of God showed me that Christmas wasn’t about getting presents but about giving and caring for others. It is about showing goodness toward other people. Every year, I tell this story to someone, because it exemplifies how Christ gave so freely of Himself for us."Let's PrayDear Lord, I have so much and I am surrounded by people who have so little. Show me someone I can help this Christmas. Open the eyes of my heart to see the needs of others. Make me an extension of Your lavish love. In Jesus' Name, amen.
Now It's Your TurnConsider some ways you can help others less fortunate this Christmas.
Here are some ideas from my book, Celebrating a Christ Centered Christmas:
- Help an elderly person decorate his or her home and take the decorations down at the end of the season.
- Give an anonymous gift of money to someone who lost their job or someone who you know struggles financially.
- Offer to do Christmas shopping for a disabled person.
- Purchase and deliver a gift for a child whose parent is in prison
- Pack a shoebox for a needy child overseas through Operation Christmas Child.
- Process toys for the Salvation Army
- Volunteer to ring the bell for the Salvation Army.
- Work in a Soup KitchenVisit someone in a nursing home who has few relatives.
Jillian Michaels--if you can get past her calling everyone "buddy" I find this to be a very encouraging and well balanced Q&A style 45 minute session. I appreciate anything about fitness and nutrition that isn't trendy but grounded in science and reality, this seems to fit that bill
