I know, I know. I’ve been missing my posts for awhile. Christmas week was a bit on the crazy side, so I took a brief hiatus. But now I’m back and hopefully on schedule. Now I bring you my regularly scheduled Monday Character Confession from Christian Women Take Root. By the way, on January 8, you can Tweet Up with oodles of Christian women if you are on Twitter. Check it out at Christian Women Tweet Up.
It all started when my aunt called me about three weeks before Christmas, asking me if it would be all right if she and my uncle got the Fruit something for Christmas. They know that Mr. Nutt is laid off and has had no luck thus far in finding employment. Certainly they understood that, in light of that, we were going with a no gift Christmas. The Fruit understood it too, and I was blessed and thankful to have such sweet and adaptable children. My aunt, who no longer has young children at home and no grandchildren to buy for yet, wanted to do some “fun” shopping again. Well, who was I to deny her the joys of Christmas shopping? I said yes. The Fruit ended up with two gifts each from them – and they weren’t just schmoozy gifts either. She really put a lot of thought into both what they enjoyed and what I would find acceptable. (It helps that she is a Christian homeschooler, too.)
Then, the adult Sunday School class at my church went out of their way to get gifts for the Fruit. Again, we’re not talking goofy, no good, throw away tomorrow stuff. They made a real effort to get the Fruit things that they would enjoy and was useful. They also gave us some food and me and Mom some nummy shower gel (called the Milkman, the Gingerbread Man, and the Muffin Man. Mmmmm…those are some good smelling shower gels!) Also, a wonderful woman made each of the Fruit a pair of knitted slippers, so I set those out Christmas morning with their other gifts.
To top it all off, several of the women in my homeschool group, who I had been meeting with once a month for about five years gathered up their resources, led by my best friend, and bought the Fruit even more gifts. They also got together a bazillion gift cards to Stuffmart and the Thrifty Acres.
My youngest step-dauther, F-2 (read F negative 2, as in before me), also bought gifts for the Fruit. They were, again, well thought out gifts that she had picked up throughout the year. She excels at shopping.
On Christmas day, my precious Fruit had all kinds of things to open up and enjoy due to the extreme generosity of those around us. Because of the gift cards, I am able to pay our propane bill, because I can buy groceries with the cards. This will keep us going another month or so.
So, I’ve learned my first lesson of this particular trip down poverty lane: I am loved. And for that, I am thankful. In spite of the hardships and the many, many worries I am facing, I know this: God is taking care of us in the ways we most need to be taken care of. And for that, too, I am thankful. This Christmas season and as I enter the New Year, I am meditating on the fact that my God knows me intimately, and knows not only the big things that I need like house payments and sleep, but also the little things, like the love of friends and the joy of the smiles on my Fruits’ faces.
Thank you, Lord!
