The Season of Giving

Just a quick story.  An old high school friend stopped by last night to meet the family.  He is moving back to the states from a brief stint in Australia and looks to be coming to our area.  Anyway, he has been great at keeping in touch.  Through this entire ordeal I could count on him giving me a call at least once a week to check in.  Skype phones are wonderful.  So anyway, he stopped by last night and met the boys and Jennifer but had to get on the road to head back to his base camp at his mom's house in the Austin area.  So when he left he said that he wanted to help out and since he was still in Australia at the point of the fund raiser he gave me a card with some money and explicit orders that it goes directly to a copay.  It was a very humbling experience.  Not only has he been a great friend, half way around the world, but in the middle of moving his young family back to the states and buying a car and finding a new place to live and on and on, he just wanted to help us.  

Now I must say that this has not been easy for us.  We have been given so many blessings and so much generosity has been bestowed upon us and sometimes you just feel overwhelmed by it all.

Having said that.  Jennifer's principal grabbed me while I was picking up Zach the other day and she gave me a head's up that she had submitted Jennifer for a radio contest.  The premise of the contest is for people to write a story about a person that inspires them and others.  This radio station, 99.5 The Wolf, then tells their story on air and gives them a shopping spree at a local mall.  Well, the email was obviously quite heart felt and amazing and Jennifer was chosen.  Just another amazing story and there are so many more.  My sister's school in New Mexico is donating money that they would have spent on Secret Santa to Jennifer's fund.  It says a lot about how much they love my sister, but it also says a lot about the type of people that they are.  Amazing!

So the rest of the story....Last night during prayer time we talked to the boys about generosity and giving and how we need to really keep our eyes open for opportunities to pass on these same gifts to other people.  You could see Zach's wheels spinning and he says, "hold on I'll be right back".  When he comes back into Ryan's room he is holding a $100 bill that he got for his birthday and he tells Jennifer that he wants her to have it.  So as we are explaining to him about how that is his gift and we want him to buy something for himself, then Ryan takes off running out of his room.  He comes back in, holding his "Deuces Lumpy" lime green Lymphoma bracelet and says "I'll wear this for you Mommy."  He hates wearing that bracelet because he doesn't want anything on his wrist but that was his way of doing something for his Mommy.  Obviously, the boys were listening to that lesson. 

So thank you to everyone that has prayed for us, given of your time and money, and helped us teach our boys a great lesson.  It IS better to give than receive.  This season is about giving something of yourself to somebody you love.  God gave us His only Son who gave His life for all of us.  In the midst of buying the newest toys and most cutting edge technologies this Christmas let's all remember that the reason we celebrate is for Jesus and the lessons that He taught us about living a life of giving and goodness.  But enjoy the new toys as well, we all need some fun in our lives.