Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in my living room admiring the Christmas tree my granddaughter and two youngest sons helped me put up and decorate last weekend. The gold tinsel and the ornaments of red and white seemed to be glowing from the strings of lights. The angel on top of the tree was lit up. As I sat there looking at this beautiful tree standing in front of my French doors, I saw a truck driving by slowly on the road in front of my house. It was quite loud, like the exhaust may have been ready to give out. Something about this truck made me stand up and go to the window. As I looked out, I saw that the driver had pulled off to the side of the road just down from my house. An older man with quite the scruffy beard and wearing an old, tattered coat emerged. He had neither a hat nor gloves on. I watched as the man shuffled to the back of his truck and pulled out a clear milk jug which appeared to contain water. He slowly made his way to the front of the truck and struggled to lift the hood. I could see him fiddling with something under the hood and then he poured the liquid from the clear jug into what I presumed was his radiator. He tossed the empty jug back into his truck, slowly climbed back into the driver’s seat and was on his way once again.
As the man drove away, my heart was heavy for him. I said a prayer that he would arrive safely to where he was going and that he would have a warm house and a good home-cooked meal waiting for him. Then I started thinking of all the people outside of my windows. How many of them don’t have a home or warm clothes or food? How many of them need a job? How many of them might have a terminally ill family member and though they know their days together are limited, they are thankful for every minute they have left? How many of them won’t have a Christmas tree full of ornaments and lights, let alone any gifts to put under such a tree? How many of them struggle just to make it through to the next day?
I think God sent that man by my house yesterday for a reason. To make me realize that no matter what battles I may be dealing with, however bad I think things may be, and no matter what my financial situation may be, there are others out there who would love to be in my place.
Let’s make Christmas a little different this year. Let’s all take a little extra time opening our gifts, not just tearing into them and throwing the paper wherever it may land. Let’s all put a little more emphasis on being thankful for the things we have received. Let’s all enjoy our family time a little more, sharing more hugs. And let’s all remember there really is a world outside our windows that we can all learn from.
I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and may you be blessed with a happy and healthy year in 2016!
God bless you!
As the man drove away, my heart was heavy for him. I said a prayer that he would arrive safely to where he was going and that he would have a warm house and a good home-cooked meal waiting for him. Then I started thinking of all the people outside of my windows. How many of them don’t have a home or warm clothes or food? How many of them need a job? How many of them might have a terminally ill family member and though they know their days together are limited, they are thankful for every minute they have left? How many of them won’t have a Christmas tree full of ornaments and lights, let alone any gifts to put under such a tree? How many of them struggle just to make it through to the next day?
I think God sent that man by my house yesterday for a reason. To make me realize that no matter what battles I may be dealing with, however bad I think things may be, and no matter what my financial situation may be, there are others out there who would love to be in my place.
Let’s make Christmas a little different this year. Let’s all take a little extra time opening our gifts, not just tearing into them and throwing the paper wherever it may land. Let’s all put a little more emphasis on being thankful for the things we have received. Let’s all enjoy our family time a little more, sharing more hugs. And let’s all remember there really is a world outside our windows that we can all learn from.
I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and may you be blessed with a happy and healthy year in 2016!
God bless you!
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