Inspired to Give

Although Christmas is behind us and 2014 has begun, there's one thing that happened during the Christmas season that still lingers with me.  I visited a low-income senior care facility with a group from my church. When we arrived and walked into the room that they were all gathered in, I couldn't believe it.  It was just like the crowd that Jesus would have ministered to -- sick, matted hair, long yellow nails, old clothes, and some just sitting around with their head hanging down.  We wanted to mingle with the residents, so I walked up to a woman doing a crossword puzzle.  She was wearing a black t-shirt, had tattoos on her, and short, kept hair.  When I asked how she was doing, she barked, "When is this thing going to get started??"  It was 2:10 and we had arrived at 2pm.  We handed out music sheets to classic Christmas music like, Joy to the World and Angels We have Heard on High.  I asked if she knew the songs and she said that she didn't like to sing them.  We sang about 5 songs and standing nearby her, I noticed that she was singing. 

After the songs, we passed out gifts that the church had bought.  I picked a bag from the "female" pile and delivered it to her.  Now, as time has gone by, I've bought less and less for Christmas because it has taken us away from the real meaning of Christmas.  Nonetheless, I delivered the gift with a smile and said, "This is for you."  She smiled and immediately started looking in the bag.  As she pulled out the first gift --- pick slippers -- her countenance softened and she said that she didn't have any slippers.  She said she had been walking around in her socks.  She pulled out three crossword/word search books and I commented, "It's like God knew exactly what you needed."  Then she pulled out a think black scarf with pink flowers and she took off the tags and tied is around her neck.  It went perfectly with her t-shirt.  She even commented that she had something pink to go with it.  She received a Jesus Calling devotion, some chapstick, and a few other small gifts.  You could see that she was really blessed by the gifts.  It was the first time that I had seen a gift for Christmas truly be what it is intended to be -- a gift to someone who can give nothing in return.  After this, I talked with some of the other residents and noticed their decade old clothing and shoes falling apart.  I also looked back to see the woman that I gave the gifts to happily showing her gifts to others.  I left there and waited to get to my car to break down in tears.  It put life in perspective for me and inspired me to give away more.