Christmas Past and Present: Part I

Last year I shared my first impressions of a Sheepfold Christmas. If you haven't read that post you can read it here. This Christmas was a little less chaotic because my house wasn't quite as full, but it was every bit as precious as last year. Rather than share my experiences I thought I'd let you read one of our moms' thoughts on Christmas at the Sheepfold.
But first, a little bit of background on this mom. :-) Last Christmas our mom (who I will call Beth*) was homeless and staying at an emergency shelter. Emergency shelters are short-term, usually co-ed places where you can sleep, take a shower, and have a hot meal. If you've seen the film The Pursuit of Happyness it is the kind of shelter where you have to wait in line hoping they'll have a bed for you each night. They can be scary places for someone like Beth with two children under the age of 4. She was hopeful however that this would be a blessed first Christmas for her little ones. The shelter she was at provided a few gifts for each child based on age-group and gender. When it came time for the gifts to be distributed everyone rushed them at the same time and when the chaos was over there was only one gift left for her daughter, some over sized clothes. While hiding her tears and crushed hope Beth worked up the courage to explain to her child that this was still a special Christmas present for her and they would have a good day. You could not fault the other homeless moms there for taking all the presents. When you have been living on the streets with your children you go into survival mode and a mindset of "take what you can whenever you can get it" because who knows how long they will have to go before their next meal or bed.
So now that you know what last Christmas was like for Beth and her young ones, here is what this year's looked like:
Christmas before the Sheepfold for me was a miserable time. It was just another reminder for me that I was not financially stable and that I was alone in this whole parenting gig…Christmas made everyone act weird and just made me wish it would hurry and end.
Christmas this year at the Sheepfold was unlike any other. My children were so spoiled with gifts, everything they wanted and more. They are still excited about all their things they got for Christmas. Not to mention that was (no joke) the very first time I received a gift for Christmas as an adult and nice stuff, really nice stuff. You can really tell these people took the time to hand pick our gifts. It matched us perfect. Most importantly the children and I were together and warm and safe.
The managers and staff took weeks to prepare for Christmas here. We went to Christmas tree lightings and we kinda had one of our own. We had beautiful volunteers come read to our kids, make cookies with us and decorate with us.
It was such a busy season we didn’t have time to pout. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it ever. Through Fran’s Bible study I got to learn the history of Christmas and why there is a Christmas tree and why it is the 25th and why presents and ornaments. Things I am going to use as a new tradition in my home with my children. No more Santa Clause. J
Through the kindness, compassion, and love of the staff members here and the house managers and volunteers at Sheepfold and the secret Santa's who gave up Christmas to give us Christmas, I learned the true meaning of Christmas which is love...The love that God has for us and how we need to be like Christ and love one another just as God loves us.
Thanks to Christmas here at Sheepfold I have a new legacy to pass on to my children and new examples to follow after the families of the gift givers and the volunteers and staff here at Sheepfold.
Thank you to all of you.
From the bottom of my heart, Beth and children


*Name has been changed

Comments

  1. Sarah SuppeJanuary 8, 2013 at 6:14 PM

    That is so special!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KarlJanuary 8, 2013 at 10:58 PM

    That is such an amazing story. Very thought-provoking: "Christmas made everyone act weird and just made me wish it would hurry and end."

    ReplyDelete
  3. iamwindandfireJanuary 9, 2013 at 8:47 AM

    Thank you for sharing Joanna...hearing it from a grateful heart reminds me what the meaning of the holiday is all about. Blessings on the Sheepfold and your work of love there <3

    ReplyDelete

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