Monday, December 17, 2007

A Home for the Holidays?

Recently, I have come across two local families who have experienced great tragedy & have lost their homes. One was a house fire--- they have two daughters, almost exactly the same ages as mine. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The other was a situation where the daddy just left the family, suddenly. So there's a mom w/a two year old, with no home & no car. So they are in strange places, not their familiar homes, this Christmas. Temporary homes. They both have lost things dear to them. All of this, just in time for Christmas. I cannot imagine.

For me, it is a good reminder of what Christmas is about: giving and sharing. To celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ child, by looking outward & making ourselves available to share a smile, a meal, a ride out of the rain, whatever. I pray we can all open our eyes and look around to those who may be hurting around us. Maybe if all of us could just give one or two people a helping hand, it would snowball, & lots of people who would be lonely & discouraged will not give up or feel left out & will be reassured that they are greatly loved and not forgotten. We are the hands & feet of God when we show love & take care of each other.

God, keep my eyes open & off of me for a change.

3 comments:

Jellyhead said...

You are so right, Alipurr.

I will remember to try to look outward, too.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I totally agree with jellyhead's comment and we should all look outward, not just at this time of year, but all year long too.

Alipurr said...

i thank God these families came across our path.....my husband had a house fire as a child and lost everything, and we felt that reaching out to that family was a way to show our children compassion and to be thankful for how God can provide for us, even in hard situations