Christmas in Chicago is a beautiful thing to see. You can feel the Christmas spirit when you pass through the Loop down Michigan Ave at night. All the department stores are lit up. You can feel the spirit when you drive through the many townships that make up Chicagoland. Some of those lit up trees in public squares warm your spirit.
You can feel the Christmas spirit in my neighborhood where even those with modest means find the money to string lights around their windows. Rich or poor, down or up, left or right, the spirit of Christmas unites us all and remind us that this is the time of neighborly love, family love, and the birth of Jesus who brought so much love into this world.
For me, the spirit of Christmas touched me this year earlier than most. A few days after Thanksgiving, I received a box in the mail at my church. You could tell that the cardboard box had been used many times before by the softness of its feel. Even the tape felt reused.
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I opened it up and I saw a handwritten note on top of a garbage bag. The note read: "Dear Pastor, I am from Arkansas, and I follow what you’re doing in your community. I don’t have much but I hope what I can provide helps."
The first thing I pulled out of the bag was a pair of snow boots. I looked for the size and saw it was a size 6. Just days earlier, I had overheard one of the single moms who works two jobs saying she needed boots to get her son ready for the winter. He is a size 5 — close enough. I said a prayer thanking this stranger from Arkansas as I pulled out the rest of her gifts to my community.
I give so much of myself to my community but I have never thought to give to a stranger in a far-off land. The time and thought she put into this gift was a beautiful thing and her generosity touched me.
As it turns out, her gift was the first of many.
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The next day I came to church there were several more boxes. They were from California, New Jersey, and two from Arizona. There were also two letters containing donations. All of these givers wanted to help my community. In their letters they said they had heard me on television or read one of my Rooftop Revelations articles for FoxNews.com
I asked several teens to help me carry the gifts to the sorting room and I told them, "See how all these strangers want to help us? They’re all from out of state. Have you ever thought of helping someone so far away? That’s why if they believe in you that much, you have no choice but to learn how to believe in yourself. Then maybe one day you will pay forward these good deeds."
The next day, I received even more boxes and donations. I had to ask for more volunteers to sort these beautiful gifts — we had piles of sweaters, socks, underwear, shirts, pants, and shoes. All of them new. And so many from people of modest means who could have brought something nice for themselves.
Their kindness reminded me of Proverbs 19:17 (NIV): "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done."
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When it came time to dole out these gifts, I reminded the children that this is the season of giving. I told them that one of the gifts came from a house cleaner who drove forty miles to drop off a box of socks. She gave out of the goodness of her heart and was very modest when I tried to thank her.
I told the children they were blessed to have that woman and so many strangers think of them. It is a blessing to receive, I told them, but they should also think of how to give.
I could see some of them averting their eyes from mine in shame. I told them that I knew many of them felt they had nothing to give but I told them that was not true. You have yourself to give. When you go about your day, smile at people, listen to people, and do deeds for people. Help your parents out. Help the neighbor out.
We may feel the Christmas spirit when the red and green lights come on, when the scent of freshly cut Christmas trees is in the air, and when Santa sits in his big red chair. But one cannot truly feel the Christmas spirit unless one gives.
To all of those of you that gave to my youths so generously, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I wish you a very merry Christmas.
