My family was recently on a road trip returning from Colorado where we visited my sister Jen’s family for Thanksgiving. On the way home we talked about wanting to make sure we made giving a central focus of our holiday season. We talked about how we could spend our time bringing light to others in our community.
My sister in law and brother inspire me every year because they have “25 Days of Giving” during the Christmas season. They spend many hours during the year serving others, but they amp it up even more during the month of December. I’ve watched them in awe for years and decided I wanted to make that a part of my family’s traditions. I love it when the people we surround ourselves with push us to be better individuals. I think that’s what community is all about.
When Love Finds You
We arrived home from our trip on the Friday after Thanksgiving, ready and excited to kick off our holiday season. As we were putting our 6 year old to bed that night, we realized we had a major issue. Water was leaking from the kitchen down into his bedroom.
I am going to spare you the details of the events in our life from then until today. But, you can probably get the gist. I have been surrounded with insurance adjusters, plumbers, professional cleaners, and air quality specialists for the past 2 weeks. But, there’s another group of people I’ve had the chance of being with this week. Friends who have called, texted, and stopped by just to check on us and shared gifts from their heart. Those who have dropped everything to come to our need. People who immediately said to us, “What can we do to help?” Some didn’t even wait to be told what we needed and took it into their own hands to figure out what we needed most. Others welcomed us with loving arms into their home and created a space of rest for us.
See the Good
These last two weeks have been hard and I haven’t had a moment to think about serving my community, and instead have been taking care of my family and my home. It hasn’t felt like Christmas and there are only two weeks left of this already short season. But, I believe we can find good in every season and sometimes finding the good means losing the simple things in life that we take for granted. The warm, cozy feeling of being in your home in the cold, long, dark winter nights. The ease of cooking a meal in your own kitchen. Gratitude for a working sink to wash dishes. Tucking your kids into their own beds at night. Waking up early, drinking coffee, and having time and energy to prepare your mind for the day ahead.
But, the greatest gift of this has been our family and friends who were willing and eager to serve us in our time of need. What appeared to be a terrible inconvenience when we couldn’t stay in our house ended up being an opportunity to spend precious time with family members. Instead of feeling guilty to ask family members to come clean with us, it led us to a time of connection with them. Finding out that family spent hours cleaning our basement as a surprise gave us the opportunity to feel their love and support. I had to alter my expectations about this holiday season. Instead of serving others, we ended up being the served. It is with a grateful heart and humble spirit that I anticipate 2020. Our mini catastrophe will have subsided and I will have the time and energy to pay the blessings we received forward to others.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support and love we have received this Christmas season.
