Christmas 2009 ~ Part 1

Christmas 2009, was the best ever for several reasons. For the last few years we have had a tradition of feeding the homeless in Albany, Oregon. It’s something the kids love to do and for the last 4 years they have given up their Christmas to make someone else’s better. We love the people and the shelter. Unfortunately, this last year the shelter had a few changes and a week before we were to leave, things fell through. So, we thought... We will find a new shelter, somewhere closer to home for next year and just go skiing for a few days. Going skiing has also been part of the Christmas tradition, up to Hoodoo for a week in the snow is our Christmas present to the family. Its funneristedly!!

Well… that didn’t work out either, Stephanie couldn’t get time off work and we knew this would be the last Christmas we had with her before she was off doing her own thing. So… we decided the week before Christmas that we would stay home. It was awful. It just didn’t feel like Christmas. We had no tree, no shopping done for the kids, no decorations up, and no shelter to feed, need I say more…

Sunday, Mark and I decided that we would try to make it a Christmas season and Monday, after work, he would stop by and get a tree to surprise the kids, he did, in the pouring down rain (it hardly ever rains here). As the tree stood in the garage overnight, drying out, we put up a few decorations. Tuesday, we put the lights on the tree and by Wednesday, Emily had the tree decorated (to surprise us). The Tree was decorated beautifully.

Tuesday, I had a brilliant idea… I’ll go get a few presents for under the tree on Christmas morning… (We had told the kids since we decided to stay home at the last minute and not go to Albany or Hoodoo, we hadn’t had any time to shop for Christmas so there wouldn’t be presents under the tree). So after the kids were in bed, or off doing their thing, I went shopping Tuesday and Wednesday night in the wee hours of the morning. Shopping was a nightmare! Every great idea I thought of getting for the kids, stores were out. Eventually, I finished and was happy, to my surprise, at the presents I had bought.

Thursday, Christmas Eve, I had told the kids I was sick. I hibernated in my bedroom, watching movies, so they couldn’t hear me wrap presents. Sneaky I was… I was determined not to reveal the real reason I was in my room, all day long. It was a success and wasn’t until 4 in the morning that Angie was awake and heard someone walking around. I told her it must have been Santa!

So here is the great thing about this Christmas… Monday I started calling, the Union Gospel Mission, a homeless shelter here in the area. Sad news was that they had all the helpers they needed and didn’t need any more. I told him the story of how this is the only thing the kids really wanted for Christmas and it wouldn’t be Christmas without helping the shelter. They said they would call me back. I hadn’t heard, so I called again and spoke with the gentleman in charge of the dinners. He said,”be there at 4:30 Christmas Eve.” GREAT!! Now it will feel like Christmas.

So we fed the shelter (see part 2 for details) and headed home. I insisted with much resistance to have the kids help me make Santa his favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies. Did they help? NO. They just laughed at me; they wouldn’t even write Santa a letter. I insisted that Santa was coming tonight. In reply I got the wink, wink sure mom.

So As I am trying to get the kids to bed, I went into Emily’s room to tuck her in and give her a kiss. MJ was hiding in the closet and both were being giggly. I looked into Emily’s closet and found some wrapped presents. “ Ahh, Emily you didn’t need to do that,” I said. “When did you have time to go shopping?” She just smiled. And off to bed I went. Emily on the other had stayed up so she could put her “surprise” presents under the tree so we would have something to unwrap for Christmas (remember, we were not going to have presents this year, mom didn’t have time to shop).

So, at 4am Mark and I filled the stockings and put the “Santa” presents under the tree (not many, but enough), went back to bed and woke up a few hours later. It was kind of sad that the kids didn’t come in to snuggle or jump on the bed and wake us up like they used to. When I walked into the room and saw the presents, I said, in a louder voice than normal…”Santa was here, Santa was here!” “Santa brought us presents.” The kids wondered where the presents came from. Umm, I kept my mouth shut.

Mark Cooked Breakfast and blessed the food. During the prayer Mark asked for Grandma and Grandpa to have a safe drive. So, I told the kids that grandma and grandpa had to get here really early and leave so they could deliver other presents. They bought that for a while and thought no, that’s not the right answer they were looking for. I kept them questioning.
After breakfast we opened presents. Emily wanted us to open hers first. We were all so excited. The funny thing is that she searched around the house finding things to wrap so we would have presents under the tree. As you can see it was quite the entertainment – pictures below.

That day we learned that it’s not what’s in the present that matters, but the excitement of being together as a family and the love we share. We haven’t had Christmas at home for years and it was wonderful. So as Pastor Bailey stated (he was over the shelter in Albany before his stroke), “you don’t always understand why things happen the way they do, but, you may be needed elsewhere, God has a plan, we just need to have faith.” I believe that. Had we followed tradition we would not have had the experiences we did this Christmas of finding joy in service, love and our families. We really needed to be at home. Thank you Heavenly Father for watching out for our family and putting us where we needed.

Christmas 2009 ~ Part 2

So here is the great thing about this Christmas… Monday I started calling, the Union Gospel Mission, a homeless shelter here in the area. Sad news was that they had all the helpers they needed and didn’t need any more. I told him the story of how this is the only thing the kids really wanted for Christmas and it wouldn’t be Christmas without helping the shelter. They said they would call me back. I hadn’t heard, so I called again and spoke with the gentleman in charge of the dinners. He said, “be there at 4:30 Christmas Eve.” GREAT!! Now it will feel like Christmas.

Hoping that we would be able to feed the shelter and not get put in the back washing dishes, we were a little nervous not knowing what to expect. It was awesome!! When we arrived we were given instructions of what we’ll be doing and a prayer was given by Eric, the person in charge. In the prayer he had asked that our hearts would be opened and receptive and that we would see the face of God in those who we were about to serve. Tears came to my eyes; a blessing was given for us, not them. The prayer ended and MJ said, “Now that was a good prayer!” I have never felt so loved, so humbled.

We paired up, two to a table, and fed the homeless. We served them as they sat and waited for us to get them food. We offered coffee, salad, dinner and dessert. At our table (mine and Emily’s) three of the guys took their time eating (I think they just like to be inside where it was warm and dry), we talked to them and knew them by names and after we were done serving, we had the opportunity to eat dinner (rolls, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, scalloped potatoes and I think, smoked turkey or pork) with them. I felt prompted, as other helpers sat by at their own tables, to sit with those I served, Emily was hesitant, but followed the lead. Soon, Mark joined us. I was humbled, over and over, listening to them talk and the stories they had to share.

Maurice was funny. He had a French/Jamaican accent. He received a pair of new jeans and shirt for Christmas and carried a backpack. He had been in the states for 10 years. Very smart and spoke with Mark about engineering details. Alex was quite but loved pumpkin pie.

Derrick was from Kentucky, a drifter since he was 18. He’s lived all over the country. He recently wanted to settle down and get a job. He stopped drinking a while ago and was ready to make a change. He had been trying to get his identification but had been unsuccessful because that took money of which he did not have. It was thanksgiving here at the shelter when a couple met him and gave funds to the director towards getting a birth certificate to get his ID. That had been his saving grace, his new chance at life. I sat there thinking how many others want to get out of the homeless situation but can’t because they have no funds to get ID, or don’t know where they were born. He said he knew of someone who had been trying to get ID for years.

On our way out there was a little old colored lady, probably in her late 70’s. She was so sweet and so happy. She told us that she’s old but is not afraid to die that there was a mansion in the heavens for her. I believe it. She had been coming to the shelter since she was 55. As I watched her put food into her bag, I wondered if she had any family. Who was going to take care of her? Her faith in believing where she was going strengthened my belief and I knew too. For are we not all brothers and sisters she said. You babies have smiles of an angle and we hugged her, smiled and said good-bye.

I held my emotions until I got to the car, and then I cried. I was so blessed that night. I saw the face of God in these people, my brothers and sisters. I saw them in equal conditions and to me they were the angels that night.