Ceri Anderson, lives in Loveland, Colorado. She and 16 of her friends have a Christmas tradition that they have named “Shock ‘n Clause.” Around this time of the year, the 17 friends meet at a place to eat breakfast together and visit. They each bring a $100 bill with them. It usually costs about $200 for the breakfast so they tip the waiter or waitress who serves them the remaining $1500!
When Alice Robinson was younger, she was with her dad when he honored a man’s request for $50 to buy medicine for his sick children. Alice was skeptical of the ways the man might misuse the money and expressed her concern to her father. What if the used the money on alcohol or something else? Although it has been many years since this encounter, Alice has not forgotten her dad’s response. “Whether he was lying or not says something about HIS character, but hearing someone in need and choosing not to help, when I have the means to, says something about mine.”
Sadio Mane is a world-famous football player from Senegal, West Africa. Mane receives about $87,000 per week so it was puzzling when he took his broken mobile phone to be fixed instead of replacing it. When questioned on why he was not getting a new one, he responded, “I could buy a thousand (phones), 10 Ferraris, 2 jet planes, diamond watches that I can buy, but why do I need all of these. I saw poverty so I couldn’t learn. I built schools so that people could learn. I didn’t have shoes. I played without shoes. I didn’t have good clothes. I didn’t have food. I have so much today that I want to share it with my people instead of showing off.”
Nichole Lemieux, her young son and daughter, live in Haverville, Massachusetts. Homeless for more than two years, they lived at a shelter for the past year. While she was shopping for groceries on Tuesday night, Nichole ran into an old friend and excitedly told her about getting back on her feet, moving into an apartment with her children on Monday, and having a new start at life. She explained, “It was one of the best things we could have asked for for Christmas.” A man happened to overhear the conversation. As he passed the two ladies, he asked Nichole if she was the one who had lived in a shelter. When she replied, “Yes,” he reached for his wallet, pulled out a $100 bill, handed it to Nichole, wished her a “Merry Christmas” and left. Speechless, the two friends tried to find the kind man to thank him and find out his name, but were unsuccessful. Nichole commented, “He has no idea what he’s done for us. At the end of a very hard year, that was unbelievable. No one has ever done something like that. I didn’t realize people like that still exist.”
May we, too, find ways to bless, encourage, offer hope, and be the light during this holiday season and beyond.
It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.
Proverbs 14:21
Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 14:31
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1 Corinthians 13:4
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Colossians 3:12
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