After being deeply touched by Joel's beautifully written Christmas story, I was reminded of a couple special times of my own. I thought maybe we could all share a special moment or two that cuts through the commercialism and greed of the modern Christmas celebration.

Many years ago, bc and bg (before Christ and Gary) I had just gone through what was undoubtedly the worst part of my life. I also had almost no money, or people for the support I needed. I started writing to prisonsers through a prison ministry. I was doing a search on human nature, I guess, to gain understanding about the "bad" in life and it filled lots of emptiness. Anyway, I did happen to have two artificial Christmas trees. My prison friends sent me cards and pictures. I decorated one of the trees and put the cards and pictures on it and took a picture of it for each prisoner that I wrote to. They really appreciated their Christmas tree and it was very humbling to have done something so simple that caused them so much pleasure and I also felt important to someone.

Another memory was about 6 weeks after my now husband got out of jail for alcohol related stuff, he had to go to the police station in Idpls. for probation stuff. While we were waiting, we saw an old man sitting there with a large sack or something. He was the next thing to being homeless. Every once in a while he would take an envelope out of the sack and give it to someone. Well, he gave us one of those envelopes, and yes, it was a Christmas card. (One of the 2 or 3 we got that year. We were basically homeless ourselves, we did have a car and were looking for jobs between there and the area we're in now.)The signature isn't very clear but I think his name is R.S. Short. We thanked him for the card, but I doubt he realized just how wonderful it was to get it. What a blessing that man was. It was also a special Christmas because it was the first Christmas we were saved and that was the longest time that my husband had gone without drinking.(it's been over 9 years now) I keep that card as a reminder of how wonderful the simple pleasures in life are and how you can find hope in them.. Merry Christmas and God blessings to all.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), December 17, 2000

Answers

Cindy what beautiful stories! When I was working, the girls I worked with always drew names at Christmas. We always made out a wish list and I always asked for Christmas ornaments. Every year now, I remember that person who gave me the ornament when I put up my tree. The most special one though is from a friend I had worked with for over 10 years. She gave me a crystal church with a steeple - it is beautiful. The sad part, she was killed in a car accident on the way to work that January after she gave it to me. That is a very special ornament to me.

-- bwilliams (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), December 18, 2000.

I just remembered another one. When I was about 15 and we were living in Florida I woke up in the middle of the night on Dec. 23rd to see flames shooting up at least 5 feet out of our floor furnace in the hall. As a teenager, I always slept very sound and I truthfully feel it was God who woke me up so I could save my family. My parents, my 3 younger sisters and my older sister and her two little children who were visiting at the time. After I got everyone awake and out of the house my next biggest concern was our Christmas tree and the gifts under it! The sleeping quarters of the house sustained a lot of damage but fortunately my family was safe and so was the tree and gifts!

-- bwilliams (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), December 18, 2000.

Cindy , thanks for sharing that. Here is my best christmass memory,My husband [when this happened we wernt married yet]had been trying to get custody of his to girls [ at the time they were 6 and 7 1/2]his ex was doing drugs and she would take the child support payments buy drugs then get food out of the dumpsters at a super market to feed the girls with.Her mother had been raising them[she stayed with friends and collected the checks] but she took them back when welfare got her a apartment. She had all kinds of people coming in and out of the house, The girls wernt getting to school even though the teachers would call her in the mornings to try to get them there.and she would send them to a store 5 blocks away on a busy road to buy stuff for her. We where calling cps as where the girls teachers but there wasnt enough to take them.We were going to try to get a lawyer as soon as we got taxes back [ we were broke]Things kept getting worse and worse [ I would cry when we had to take them back there after visits]so on december 21 I got down on my knees and prayed to god for help, The next day she snapped, drove the girls out to the country and made them get out of the car and drove away! The girls hiked to a house[ one had no socks on and the other had no jacket and it was very cold out] and the people called the police, so 3 days before christmass we got the girls and that was the happyest christmass.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), December 18, 2000.