Mom Diaries: Christmas! Paraugs

Malkhi: My King

Each year at Christmas our church organizes outreaches to schools, destitute homes, old-age homes, and orphanages.

The number of people signing up to volunteer is usually higher than those that pitch in year-round. And that is understandable as people do plan more time off from work at Christmas. It's a combination of having the time and feeling more charitable this time of the year. 

And we're no different at home. The kids and I use this as an opportunity to clean up and sort out toys, knick-knacks, shoes, and clothes to give away and to make room for the new.

While we do ensure that we're giving away gently-used products and not trash, sometimes there's a small niggling wish that we could give more brand new gifts to the underprivileged.

But I want to share a heart adjustment lesson I learnt from my then 11-year-old daughter, Michelle.

We had a cleaner at church with small kids of her own, and my daughter decided to give her old bicycle to that family.

As I stopped at a traffic light and looked at the small cycle in the backseat of my car, I noticed something was different about it, so I pulled over the next chance I got and turned to examine it.

What I saw melted my heart.

My little girl had painted the tires and the seat, added some stickers, and given the cycle a sweet sprucing up!

It was one child taking the time to make it into a better present for another child.

Now the kid receiving it had no clue how it looked before or how long my daughter had spent over the repaint, etc.

But it mattered to Michelle.

She knew that this was the best she could give that year. So she tried to out-do herself by working on it and making it slightly better.

I made a note then to learn from this. I may not always be able to give more than my financial abilities, but I can give of the best I have.

God has asked us to share the joy of Christmas in multiple ways, and I'm ashamed to confess that I used to look at the seasonal volunteers and find it a bit annoying to think that people want to make it to the "nice list" only this time of the year.

But it's a heart attitude. Probably it's the best people can do with their life circumstances and their time right now, and they're choosing to enhance it and use it to spread cheer through a song here and a play there.

And God sees that, and it pleases Him. I hope you can make yourself available to go and spread the message and joy of Christmas too.

This Christmas also we will sit together as a family with our tree lights and carols in the background and pack care packages for the needy.

And while I hope some year we can probably give more than just the basics, for now, we will honor the baby King, Malkhi, by doing just a little bit more.

"I have no gifts to bring 

To lay before the king.

Shall I play for you, on my drum..."

- The Drummer Boy

Katherine Kennicott Davis,1941.