And we were thankful.
Kevin, April, and Peter came late Thursday afternoon. At one point, Peter had a grilled cheese sandwich, and we snacked on some things they had brought from April’s family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Friday, we got out the tree and the ornaments, and decked the halls.
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- The Christmas boxes are numbered, to help me find things quickly for decorating and for being able to store the boxes efficiently when the holidays are over. And, I have a list of what’s in the boxes.
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- Boxes in the living room, getting everything out, ornaments for the tree, items for decorating around the house.
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- Christmas is so much fun!
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- Handmade Christmas ornament.
Peter, who sleeps on a sturdy, blow-up mattress in our living room, had a large, glowing, tree-shaped nightlight, all night long.
On Friday, for lunch, we had a dinner that is popular with the family members. “Boats,” is how we refer to them, and the title of the product is “Old El Paso Soft Taco Boats,” so you can look that up. I put out vegetarian refried beans, cooked ground beef, rice, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, melted cheese sauce, and salsa, so everyone can make their own.
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- We usually have Christmas crackers to pull. I *have* Christmas crackers, for Christmas dinner, but I’d never seen Thanksgiving crackers. I saw them at World Market, where I don’t usually shop. But, I’d been at a store right *next* to World Market, and popped in, and didn’t pop out again until an hour later.
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- Kevin had one of the more interesting “toys.” A full deck of tiny playing cards.
I had another plan, for a family project. Members of our church, in addition to several other churches in town, purchase items to donate to a local helping agency. That agency creates a store where families who have limited incomes can come purchase gifts for their children. They will pay a much lower price for these items, so they can have gifts for their kids and teen-agers. I suggested that Kevin could choose gifts for teen-aged boys, April could select gifts for teen-aged girls, David and Peter could find gifts for school-agers, and I would look for gifts for babies. And David and I would pay for all the gifts. Knowing that Friday morning could be really crowded, with all the post-Thanksgiving shoppers. I thought we should go to Target on Saturday morning. That was perfect. We were waiting at the doors at a few minutes before 8:00 a.m. As soon as the doors were opened, we got carts, fanned out, and shopped.
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- I chose some toys for babies.
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- We’re checking out, lots of Target bags with lots of great gifts.
On Sunday, local bikers come to the churches and gather up the toys and gifts that were purchased. They roar up to each church, along with a truck that is pulling a trailer. All the toys and gifts are piled in and the bikers go on to another congregation.
If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.
Romans 12:7-8 (Contemporary English Version)
What a lovely family project!