Christmas Eve and Morn!

I had the privilege of working Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at the shelter last week. Rather than switch shifts out Sunday at 7am like we managers usually do, we decided to wait until 9am so that the early morning craziness would be over and the transition would be easier. I had mixed feelings at first when I saw my schedule would fall on Christmas eve and morning.
Christmas is one of those holidays that is full of tradition. Christmas Eve was always (ALWAYS) spent with my mom's side of the family at my Grandma's house. It is my favorite gathering of the season. Singing carols, opening gifts, eating Mexican food...ahh the song "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof comes to mind. :-) My cousin Kim and I have a running tradition of filling an old pringle can with mementos and notes each year as a make-shift mini time capsule. It's a great opportunity to catch up on the extended family's lives and encourage each other. Not to be a part of that, among other things, made me a bit melancholy.

Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof

Since Christmas Eve has always been special for me I wanted it to be special for the moms and little ones. I can imagine for the moms who spent previous Christmases with family that it might be hard for them too. I planned a special dinner and we went to the candle light service at the church our shelter goes to. (Shout out to NHC!)

Getting ready to take the house anywhere is a stressful undertaking. Especially with a full house (more on that later in another post)! It requires taking two vehicles and getting all babies, toddlers, and those with less-than-ideal time management skills to be in the van and ready to go all at the same time. Anyway, I got them to the church on time. ;-) We get in, find our seats, and settle into singing the familiar Christmas carols. As we were singing the pastor pulled me aside. I was worried there was an issue with one of our families but instead he handed me an over-sized envelope. He said they had an anonymous donor donate some gift cards that they wanted The Sheepfold to have. In the envelope was over $1,000 worth of MasterCard Gift Cards. How unexpected and... AWESOME!!!!

I cannot say enough about how overwhelming it is to see God provide again and again above and beyond the needs of our moms and kids. Sometimes it hits me anew and I can't help but tear up with joy that I get to see and experience God's tangible love here. I have a job that pays my bills because hundreds and thousands of people, businesses, and churches contribute to The Sheepfold and grasp its vision. It is a miracle that in this economy and materialistic world people are willing to give not just out of there excess but sacrificially too.

OK now on to Christmas morning! My instructions were that no child was to be out of their rooms before 7am and as long as that rule was followed they could open presents before breakfast. I was shocked to not hear so much as a peep when I came down to the kitchen at 6 to get everything ready. 6:30...still nothing. 6:45 a mom came down, but still no sound from the little ones. At 6:59 I got ready with my CD that I bought just for this occasion. At 7am sharp I turned the volume up and the whole house rang with the sweet, talented vocal styling of Alvin and The Chipmunks! (I know you're jealous) Like magic within seconds all the kids were dancing and bouncing around the living room waiting for instructions that they could come up to open gifts. Before opening gifts everyone shared something that they wanted to thank Jesus for. Surprisingly the kids did not all mention presents...even though that's what was staring them in the face. There was gratitude for a roof over their heads and a bed to sleep in, grateful for safety, good memories, children, staff, and volunteers.

I have never seen so much energy and enthusiasm that early in the morning. Insane. I had hot chocolate and coffee ready and with that we headed to the upstairs living room where the gifts had been stashed around the tree. There were so many presents! I'm not exaggerating, there were 110 of them!!! I had everyone find a comfortable spot and then I passed out a gift to everyone. The kids got to open one all at once and then the moms followed. We repeated this 9 more times. It was CRAZINESS!!!! I spent all the time taking pictures and distributing gift after gift after gift.

The gifts were all wrapped beautifully and each gift chosen for a specific recipient. It took dozens of volunteers to wrap all the gifts over several weeks and I'm sure hundreds of donors/adoptive families to purchase and pick out gifts for each mother and child. Even the mom and two children that just came to us a little over a week ago had gifts specifically chosen for them. These families were so blessed by the generosity and love of people that don't even get to see the results of their sacrifice. I knew I was witnessing something I never want to forget. The faces of surprise, gratitude, shock, and awe were everywhere.

For the past month The Sheepfold's office has been packed and overflowing with Christmas gifts. In some rooms there wasn't even room to walk and you had to walk down the hallway sideways to make it through. Simply amazing. As managers we knew what was coming but I don't think the moms and kids even half expected how wonderful Christmas was going to be. There were skateboards, new clothes, a karaoke machine, pillow pets, perfume, leather boots, even an ipod shuffle!

Christmas is not about presents, decorations, or a great tree as I've discussed in my previous post. The presents were merely the conduit by which the message made it through. The message that was received was, "You are loved and you are Mine. I love you and long for you to know Me. See yourself through My eyes. You have value, you are worthy of love and protection. Nothing you have done or could do would diminish My love for you." As I sat watching the mothers with their children I could not help but cry. It was a pivotal moment, one where I felt I could clearly see God's heart and longed with everything in me to love these dear precious souls the way my Jesus loves them.

Jeremiah 31:12-13

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
and they shall languish no more.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. (Emphasis mine)