Monday, December 8, 2008

The Little Boy Who Wanted Everything

The virtue at Sunday school for the 4th and 5th boys this Sunday was giving. It was all about the gift of sharing with others and this time of year it makes sense. The basic principal of giving is truly of God and Christmas just concentrates a lot of it in one short time period for many folks.

Now at our home we celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas. My wife bakes a birthday cake for Jesus, we pray together and try and savor each and every moment of this, the true meaning of the holiday.

That is my disclaimer as a believer. We as a family do the whole Santa gift-giving thing as well. Even now my kids are older but I asked them, “do you like Santa and the idea of Santa and that he continues to bring you presents,” they always answer “yes” with a twinkle in their eyes – so Santa continues to come to our home. I do not find anything wrong with the commercial side of Christmas – the holiday side.

I love my family. I want to give them everything they could possibly want and Christmas is a wonderful time to make a big deal out of blessing them and loving on each other and having fun – concentrated fun in a month long festival with days off and lots of happy people, what can be wrong with that?

My son Jon-Michael is one of the kindest, biggest hearted little guys you could ever hope for as a kid. He is however a little boy living in the world today and he struggles a bit with the concept of a limited gift list. He wants video games, dirt bikes, computers and the list is almost endless. I laugh to myself with each addition.

We have had long talks about giving and caring for others; he has a heart the size of a small car. But alas he is just a little boy growing up in America. He gets it, but does not want to get it. He still wishes for it all – and I wish he could have it. Jon-Michael and I both know he won’t get everything on his list, not even close, but it is fun wishing.

I took three of the boys after church this Sunday and went to lunch, that included Jon- Michael. After lunch we went to the dollar store and bought two street bags, bags full of things someone living on the street might need. We also purchased toys for the toy drive in town. We ended up at the grocery story and collected a bag of food for the local food drive. We sat on the porch assembling the items into the bags then struck out to bless some folks. We found a homeless couple right down the street from our home. They were asking drivers for coins.

Now I have to tell you, I usually do not give these folks anything. I have lived where they are and for most, they have made a choice. I know this sounds hard and you can argue with me if you like – but I know the streets and the life the folks are living. Ask me about it sometime. But I digress; we found them and invited them over to the truck.

The boys were scared of the homeless couple until they began talking to the boys. It turned into a pretty magical experience. The last thing we did was pray for them. Cool thing for the boys and I. We then went by the food bank and they went in and dropped off the food. This morning I dropped off the toys.

The point in doing this was to show the boys some folks who have little to nothing. To teach them how to give and gift and think about others in a compassionate way. I was very proud of them. They understood the Sunday school program a little better.

God has blessed us with so much. I am in awe of the gifts each and every day. A friend told me recently that he is happy every day he swings his feet out of bed and feels them touch the floor. Simple things we so often over look.

Job well done Jon-Michael, Tanner and Spencer, Gods servants indeed.

1 comment:

  1. TJ,
    Thanks for sharing your heart and soul with all of us who love Christmas and Christ. I appreciate your blog today about teaching boys the value of giving and showing compassion. I am motivated today to take my kids on just such a venture, or adventure in giving. Take a look at my blog today on www.m300ministries.org under director. I am going to write about an encounter with Santa that I witnessed today and how it brought Christ closer to me....
    See ya,
    Wayne

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