Sunday, November 27, 2011

A Christmas Dare

Christmas was coming, and the yearly challenge to be solved just could not be ignored any longer: 
What to buy for our family?

Something that said, “We love you, we value you, we’re glad we’re family!”  


Complicating Factor Number One:  Our loved ones were spread across the country, and we had no idea what special gift to give, that wouldn't already be sitting in their well-stocked home.  Was there really anything they might like, or need, or want that we could guess correctly and afford, too?

To buy something just to… buy something, seemed such a waste of our never-quite-enough resources and such a slap in the face of the One whose birthday this was, after all.  

In the mail came a catalogue full of inexpensive gifts  –simply rich in meaning and life potential for the recipients whose needs were too many to count. 

What to do? 
Complicating Factor Number Two: We were not on the same wavelength with regards to faith- would this convince them that we really were from another planet??  

A dare, a risky move because we couldn’t bring ourselves to do any less.  
Each family received a card saying,
 “Because we love you, we’ve given a gift of ____ in your honour.”  
The response? 
  • Tears.  
  • Gratitude. 
  • Wonder. 
  • A new tradition that was carried on with all sorts of twists and turns, creatively trying to outdo each other.  

This Christmas, don’t just give a gift.  
Give a gift that’s desperately needed and makes a difference.  
In case you need some help -
Welcome Home has an Online Christmas Catalogue, $10-$50 gifts that will mean the world to newly arrived refugees.
Go ahead, I dare you!