Alone at Christmas

Spiritual resource to share:  giving Christmas

It was my first Christmas away from home and family. I was working at a Christmas Family Camp, but mine wasn’t going to be there. I wasn’t looking forward to Christmas day at all. There were other college students on staff, but I still felt lonely. How I would miss Christmas morning, the stockings, the presents, and the big family meal!

Then I thought about how everyone on staff had agreed to work over Christmas to make it a really special time for other families. The more I thought about my co-workers, the more I started thinking of ways we could all have a special Christmas together on Christmas morning.

I dove into the preparations. My Christmas tree was a green triangle made of yarn, put up on the wall of my shared tiny apartment. I tacked on pine cones, colorful ribbons and bows. I scoured the campus’ vending machines and wrapped up small single use boxes of laundry detergent, a box of toothpaste, a bar of soap. I found a brand-new pair of socks in my drawer. My mom had sent a fruitcake I hadn’t unwrapped. I wrapped all these gifts with newspaper and placed them under my Christmas tree with the names of those on staff who were also spending Christmas without their families.

That Christmas morning, everyone came over. We made a fire and sat around the tree. We all opened Christmas presents and laughed and sang our way through the morning. One friend even said it was the best Christmas he had ever had!

It definitely was one of my most memorable Christmases! Loneliness disappeared right when I started praying about ways to give Christmas to my friends. I learned it’s not how much money you spend but the love and joy and spunk behind each gift that makes it special.  All the joy I put into this effort, multiplied and came back to me!

And the gifts are really just a symbol of the appearance of Christ in our hearts. And that’s always joyful, abundant, satisfying, and inclusive. That’s the kind of Christmas that stays with you all year long.



To read more Christmas blogs, go to http://tmcyouth.com/blogs/alone-at-christmas/