Day 4: Christmas the Way it was Meant to Be

From the state of Wash­ing­ton, I got this email from Cindy:

My hus­band has been with­out work for 7 months now and as a mother of 3 small boys 10, 7 & 7 there is no harder time of year to find your­self with­out finan­cially.  I have had great heart ache over the real­ity that Christ­mas as we have known it in years past would not be a part of our lives this year.  So what does that leave then??  It leaves me the chance to open my heart to the Sav­ior and the true mean­ing of the hol­i­day and humbly teach myself and my chil­dren what Christ­mas is sup­posed to really mean.  It gives me a chance to find grat­i­tude for my abun­dant bless­ings. 

 

 I have decided on won­der­ful cre­ative ways to spend time together this month that are free or low cost and will cre­ate last­ing mem­o­ries and new tra­di­tions.  What a GIFT!!!  This has also lead me to the real­iza­tion that the great­est gift to my chil­dren and the Sav­ior this year will not be found in the toy store.   It will be the time we spend build­ing our rela­tion­ships and testimony’s as a fam­ily as we DO.  With this in mind I have found great hope, joy and unex­pected antic­i­pa­tion for the Christ­mas Sea­son and think this will be our best Christ­mas yet!

That was last year, but just 2 weeks ago, Cindy sent me an update, say­ing, “We had the chance to expe­ri­ence Christ­mas the way it should be: sim­ple, spir­i­tual, uplift­ing and calm.” 

Thanks, Cindy.