The Christmas Ornament

It is amazing what kids can teach you. I don’t have my own kids, and at this point I am okay with it, but I do live with three. I can’t tell you how excited I get when it is five o’clock and I get to go home. Most nights Madison, Hayes, and Pierce are waiting at the door for me, just to welcome me home. They tell me all about their day’s and what the learned at school. Pierce usually goes “Care Care” and puts his arms up. I pick him up and do a tight squeeze leaving myself completely soaked from his excessive amounts of drool. These are just things I look forward to. The other day I came home from work and Boise had just had it’s first real snowfall of the year. The sidewalks were barely coated, but the kids suited up to go try out their little shovels. I was not envious, I went straight for the electronic fire, and sat and waited from them to come back. Let’s be honest, I don’t love the cold. They came in and were so excited, they had informed me that they had come up with a plan to make money. Like any child, I thought wow these kids are getting to business early in life, they want the finer things in life is what I thought. After hiding in their room for 20 minutes they came out with a cardboard sign that said, “Will shovel side walks for 2$.” It was not very legible, and I quickly thought judgmental thoughts of their feeble attempts to make money in a neighborhood like mine. It then occurred to me to ask what they were earning money for. They both replied with the most humbling answer. They explained to me that they wanted to earn enough money to buy their baby brother Pierce (about 1) a Christmas Ornament for the tree. They each had one, but he didn’t. They explained to me that they didn’t want him to feel left out on Christmas morning. I can guarantee you Pierce would not know if there was an object on the tree that was solely for him, he will be too consumed by the wrapping paper, but that’s not the point. Madison and Hayes showed me that they understood the true meaning of Christmas. For that short amount of time they put all of the Lego’s and Barbies they wanted out of their minds and thought of someone else. They thought about another person, it wasn’t because they felt obligated but because they didn’t want him to feel left out, they did it out of kindness. That is the true Spirit of Christ.