A Pre-Christmas Miracle

by Dawn M. Bryner

I try very hard to instill in my children that Christmas is not about presents and getting everything they want, but instead it is about Jesus' birth and being with family to rejoice. We purposely make Christmas a more conservative occasion. As a matter of fact, most of our family no longer exchanges gifts. We just get together and enjoy the day for what it is. I am certainly not a perfect parent, but if someone were to ask one of my kids why we celebrate Christmas, they will tell you we are celebrating Jesus' birthday. Ok, so here's where the "story" starts, since it's actually about giving gifts. It's very simple, yet extremely profound.

Last Thursday, I got a call from Jacque K., Senior Advisor of the Ambassadors of Hope (AOH). She was very upset. She called to get my opinion on what we could do to help the Salvation Army get presents for 35 children whose names were taken off of their Angel Tree but had not had gifts returned for them. All of the gifts were due back to the Salvation Army by Friday, December 10, to ensure they could be distributed to the children on time for Christmas. By Thursday, December 16, Linda G. from the Salvation Army was sure those gifts would not be dropped off, so 35 children were not going to have any gifts to open Christmas morning. Not knowing for sure how she would get her hands on toys for these children, she called Jacque to see if the AOH had any more gifts they could donate, as they had already given approximately 75 toys. Jacque assured her the AOH would be glad to help and then called me. The AOH did have some toys to donate but not enough for the specific age groups and sexes that were needed. So, AOH decided they would have to purchase the toys themselves with money they were saving for a scholarship. It looked as though everything was going to be OK after all.

I must say, I felt so outraged by what had happened - that people would take the names off the Angel Tree and not return the gifts for those poor children, that I wanted to help in any way I could. I didn't want Christmas day to arrive and know that those 35 children would not have presents to open. So, when I talked to Jacque again on Friday morning, I happily volunteered to be the one to go to the store and buy the toys. At that point they had a few more toys that had been donated, but there were still 19 children left with no presents at all. I needed to go to the store anyway, and thought this would be a fun project, so I went to Jacque's to pick up the money and the list. It was at that point I found out AOH only had $120.00 in their budget for these gifts. That's not very much, considering I needed to buy a total of 38 gifts for 19 children, but I was up to the challenge (or so I thought.)

This turned out to be a bigger challenge than I had anticipated. It was downright next to impossible. I did manage to get presents for all of the kids, but I was certain I had gone over the $120.00 budget, and held my breath as I headed for the checkout. I knew the AOH had no more money to spare, so I decided if I did in fact go over the budget I was going to just have to make up the difference with my own money. I wasn't exactly thrilled about it as I had already donated a worthy sum of toys and had given up a great deal of my time, but I was more worried about the children. So I finally reached the checkout line, and as I waited, I started going through my list, matching toys to each child to make sure everyone was covered. All along I kept thinking to myself "How could someone do this to a child? I mean, if you're going to take a name off the tree, you should buy that child the recommended gifts, otherwise don't take the name to begin with. It's not like people do not know what the names are for or what they are being asked to do." The more I stewed about it, the angrier I became.

By the time I had waited in line and reached the checkout counter, I was getting very upset. Here I thought this would be a lot of fun, and it was turning out to be quite the opposite. I was so frustrated about the people who had taken the names and not brought in the presents. In addition, as I placed each item on the conveyor belt, I had the mounting pressure that I might not have enough money to purchase all of the items. While the toys were being rung up and bagged, I was explaining to the checkout clerk at Wal-Mart why I was buying so many toys and the situation surrounding it. She too was outraged by what had happened. I told her that I was so upset about it, I was going to write a letter to the editor and let others know what had happened. She agreed that it was a good idea. Maybe it would make people stop and think before doing the same thing next year.

She finally rang up the last toy, looked at the total and announced, "It's $120.00." When she said it, I immediately stopped talking in mid-conversation and stared at her in utter disbelief. I looked at the screen, and sure enough, amazingly the total was exactly $120.00. Tears started streaming down my cheeks and she asked what was wrong. I hadn't yet told her at that point what my budget amount was, so I explained to her that AOH had given me $120.00 to purchase the toys. She looked at me, looked at the register again, and then said "I think SOMEONE is helping you out here."

It was undeniable. I most certainly had had some help with this. The most humbling feeling I have ever felt swept over me at that moment, and all of the anger drained away. My mom always tells me "God works in mysterious ways," but I had never felt it so close to home before. I still wanted to write a letter to the editor, but this time with a different angle. Christmas, for me this year, is going to be a little more joyous - not despite those people who took the names, but because of them.

"God bless us every one!"