Every year I do the same thing. I begin planning on how to create the best Christmas ever. Not with gifts or decorations. Not with expensive items or over the top activities. But with family. With friends. With purpose. One that allows us to say, "That was the year we..." with fondness. With joy. With hearts set on giving. On sharing.
We bake and give away cookies. We ring the bell for the Salvation Army. We collect hats and gloves, or coats, or toys. We adopt a family. We make treats for friends. We spend time together. We serve. We laugh. We visit grandparents. Many of those create traditions. Some of those give us those memories. All have made our kids, or us as parents, say that it was memorable.
This year, however, was different. It will not be those same things that we remember. Not the cookies we gave away, the service projects we did, the crafts we made, or the fun we had. It will be in what was given to us, to me, that will tell the story of this Christmas.
We prepared as always. A busy season with parties, cookies, crafts, more parties, and finding ways to serve. We shopped, we caroled, we wrapped, we laughed, we made sure to serve others. We focused on THE gift given, not the gifts we would receive.
Christmas Eve morning Angel looked pretty rough when she woke up, and complained that she was not feeling well. She got sicker as the day wore on, and we decided that we could not risk getting others sick. We decided to stay home from the family parties, meeting with my grandparents later to exchange gifts. She looked worse and worse, and felt the same. She could not keep any food down. Finally she looked at me and said, "I need to go to the hospital." She was having severe pains in her right side, had not kept food down since lunch the day before, and was shaking.
I hurried to get ready, thinking that we would go over and they would give her something to stop the vomiting, maybe IV fluids for a few hours, and we would be home. I was not prepared for CT scans, blood work, and an ambulance ride to a larger hospital to see a surgeon. They thought for most of the night that it was her appendix. Three rounds of blood work, two bags of fluids, and one long night later it was evident that the problem was a severe virus, not her appendix. We were relieved to not have surgery, sad to be in the hospital, and exhausted.
Our Christmas was not ruined, however. Every time someone came into her hospital room for any reason, they gave her a small gift. Many of the gifts kept her distracted. They were donated by local churches. There were coloring books, puzzle books, paint sets, stuffed animals, and some candy. During the few hours of sleep I got Santa visited with a sack of toys. She got a large stuffed bear, a pillow pet, a puzzle, and some craft sets. She hung onto that bear the rest of her stay, squeezing it during blood work. She clutched it when the surgeon came in to give us results. She hugged it when they announced no surgery. We got to play X Box in the hospital. The nurses were all wonderful, bringing us anything they could to help us settle in and trying to give us a bit of Christmas.
At home, Andy struggled with the kids who were scared and sad. Faith did not want to sleep in her room looking at Angel's empty bed. Isaac was afraid for her and offered his room to Faith. David missed his best friend Angel and his Mommy who both read to him at bedtime and tuck him in. Micah missed his Mommy all night like any nursing infant would. Daddy was there to keep everyone together, even when his heart was with us in the hospital. And Santa came. My dear children grabbed their stockings and got ready to head out the door to bring Christmas to Angel. They grabbed her stocking and headed to see us, not a peep about the presents they past to leave the house.
This was my Christmas miracle this year. Strangers seeing our need and meeting it in the form of small gifts. A stuffed animal. A tooth brush. A can of Pepsi. A cup of coffee. A puzzle. The gifts of people who did not even know we were there but wanted anyone stuck in the hospital on Christmas to know love. The children who past by their own presents in a rush to get to their sister, to their mother.
You see, for years we have talked about the meaning of Christmas. We have done projects to serve others. Form soup kitchens to coat drives. From park clean up to community events my children have served. At times they have served instead of participating. They painted faces instead of attending the party. They picked up trash in the park instead of play there. And when it came right down to it, they not only gave of themselves on Christmas, missing their own presents for a while, but they also got to receive the gifts of others. Angel was ministered to in ways that she usually ministers. And they got to see that there are others who serve. Who love. And in days that seem so very dark at times, this is the best kind of light.
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