On the Seventh Day of Christmas my true love gave to me 7 Niu's get Christmas

My family has been the recipient of many Christmas service donations. Growing up my parents had many mouths to feed and not enough money to go around. As kids we never knew how bad things were. We always had food on the table which led me to believe that there were never financial problems. Christmas time was always hard because of the money. It was okay if one child wanted a certain toy for Christmas, but you multiply that by 5 and that’s where it got expensive.

One night a few weeks before Christmas we had a knock on the door. My father opened the door to see our bishop (a.k.a. pastor) standing there with some things in his hand. He asked to speak to them privately and we all went upstairs intrigued as to what he could possibly want or say to them. After waiting my parents called us down and they gave us some cheerful news.

The bishop had brought over a brand new suit for my father and $500.00 cash. This was given to us by someone in our congregation that knew we were strapped for money and wanted to make our Christmas better. The bishop wouldn’t say who did this for us, but just said they wished to be remained anonymous and that they send their love to our family. My mother was crying and my father just looked at the suit beaming. Me being the one who wanted to know everything, I tried to gather many clues as to who may have been the culprit behind it all. I had my suspicions but in the end never really fully knew who had done such a selfless act.

My dad had been wearing the same suit for years now and his was tattered, torn, and outdated. The new suit was beautiful and fit my dad perfectly. My father held an array of callings that required his suit for visits, speaking engagements, and occasionally work. He and my mother were happy and I could tell that a giant weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

My parents then added “We know this money is for Christmas and we think you should use $100.00 to buy presents for each other.” Then we got really excited. What would we do with our money? At first I thought we could buy a huge group gift. Something like a pool table or ping pong table that we could all enjoy. We held a few pow wows in our room before we could make a definite decision. By a unanimous vote we decided we should use the money to buy Christmas gifts for my parents.

So the next week we all went to the mall to pick a gift for them. We split up into teams and my brother and I went to pick a warm coat for my dad (something else he desperately needed). My brother and I briefly argued about what kind of jacket would best be suited for him. At the same time my sisters went to pick out a makeup case and my mom’s favorite perfume; Chantilly Lace.

We excitedly took our packages home and wrapped them up. We hid them toward the back of the tree so they would be surprised when they found out there were things for them on Christmas morning.

Sure enough Christmas morning came and my parents watched thoughtfully as we took turns opening our own gifts. I really have no idea what I received but I do remember how surprised (or at least they acted that way), they were when they opened the gifts that we had bought them.  

I was so grateful for that person who let us have a wonderful Christmas, not only for us but also for my parents. I have always sworn that if one day I ever have even a little bit of means to help someone then I would pay it forward and do what someone else did for us. Because it’s not about what you get but what you give.