The Reason for the Season

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’     Acts 20:35

A tradition for our family for the last three years has been to create gift boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  My girls have so much fun picking out their favorite things: Polly Pockets, ponies, princess jewelry, crayons, toothbrushes, stickers, etc... for a little girl in the world who doesn't have nearly as much as we do.
 

On a Wednesday morning (of the collection week) Faith, Anna, and I went to a special MOPS play-date at the church to pack our boxes with friends. 

Later in the day, when Jillian came from school, she helped complete her box by writing her "All About Me" page. 

All about me pages:

JILLIAN:
There are lots of things I like.
My Favorite:
thing to drink is water.
color is red.
food is french fries.
thing to play is ponies.

When I have free time, I like to play with my sisters.

I love Jesus because He is great and powerful.

FAITH:
There are lots of things I like.
My Favorite:
thing to drink is lemonade.
color is pink and purple.
food is chicken nuggets.
thing to play is Polly Pockets.

When  I have free time, I like to play with my baby dolls.

I love Jesus because He loves me very much!

On that Friday evening, we went to Redland Baptist to drop off our boxes. 

Faith gave her box to a little girl aged 2-4 years old.

Jillian gave a gift for a little girl aged 5-9 years old.  We found out a few weeks later that one of the boxes was sent to Gabon and the other to Iraq! 

Dear Jillian  Mom,

I love you Mom.  I don't know what I want for Christmas.

Love, Jillian

(Jillian told me that afternoon, she wrote that because she has been given so much and doesn't need anything else!  I was really blessed by Jillian's appreciation for all that she has already been given.)

Our plan for little Anna was that she would sponsor an infant from the Angel Tree this year.  Anna and I went shopping together to buy a one year old boy a Christmas gift from his dad. We went to downtown Rockville and went to an adorable toy shop and bought him a saxophone!  There were several different types of musical instruments to choose from, but that was Anna's favorite and I thought she was the best judge of what a one year old would enjoy in that department.:-)

 It was a fun night to be in Rockville because it was the annual Christmas tree-lighting celebration! They were giving away hot chocolate and brownies, Peeps Christmas trees, and little Rockville coffee mugs!  Anna and I enjoyed all the festivities and music and went home with our gift for our little Angel tree recipient.

The sad ending to this story is that after several attempts we were unable to contact the child's guardian.  According to our church coordinator for the program, this is the only contact information that this man has for his child. On a positive note, it encouraged Brad and I to pray even more for this child who wouldn't be celebrating Christmas with his dad. I hope next year we will be more successful in getting to deliver a present for an Angel Tree child. 

Another fun event was at the beginning of December, I had the joy of helping some of the Senior Higher girls from our church (at Michelle's house) make some goodie plates.  I loved getting to know some of the young people from our church better and as always, I had fun baking at the Smith's house.

The girls made all kinds of goodies...red velvet cake, banana bread, chocolate cookies drizzled in white chocolate with crushed candy cane sprinkled on top, truffles, pretzel M&M treats, and more!
The best part was that all of these goodie plates were given to people in our church who had gone through a difficult time in the year 2011.  It was our hope and prayer that the gift would be an encouragement to them during the holiday season!

Now on to one of the most anticipated events of our December, the Women's Center Christmas party at Derwood Bible Church! It was the first time that any of the ladies from the center had come to our church.  We sang carols, decorated cookies, heard the nativity story from Bob, listened to a touching testimony from one of Jillian's Sunday School teacher about a time when she was homeless (Jillian was especially moved by the story and gave her beloved teacher big hugs afterwards), and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

Here's our friend Lindsey helping the girls decorate cookies (it was a "craft/activity" for the ladies from the shelter, but the Girl Scouts who provided them had extra cookies for the children to decorate too).  Pictured are her two daughters, Ellie and Annie (the same age as Jillian and Faith) and our very own baby Anna, licking up all the icing she can while Lindsey's back was turned.  

Anna was in a very outgoing mood that day, and cuddled right up with a sweet woman from the shelter.  I loved learning about this lady.  For one, she had an unusual name and she told me that her parents had thought for certain she was going to be a boy while they were expecting.  Much to their surprise, they discovered she was a GIRL, so they decided to name her after the doctor who delivered her.   I also learned that she is a mother, and has two children in high school now.  Like most mammas, she enjoyed the cuddles with a little one again.

Anna was getting around that day.  Here she is with her Daddy as he made some announcements.

This is the first photo we have taken of the ladies from the shelter!!! I was so excited to finally get a photo of these precious ladies.  Not all the women wanted to have their photo taken and not everyone from the shelter was present for the party, but it is a good representation of some of the ladies we have been getting to know over the past year.  

This is a photo of a few of the ladies from my table. Despite their difficult circumstances, they are an absolute joyful group of ladies. I really enjoyed my time with them at the party, especially as we talked about: our families, home-states (there was quite a discussion about Mississippi!), and the Lord!

At the end of the party, while we were cleaning up, our girls had fun playing with a scarf with their friends Ellie and Kaylee.  They thought it was a hilarious game. :-)

It was a fantastic celebration of our Lord's birthday and His love for these ladies!