This Christmas Has 12 Days
Twinkling lights on the Christmas tree reflected off the
red, green and blue ornaments, while candles waited to be
lit. Outside a few snowflakes drifted down as the gray
Sunday afternoon sky darkened. Night comes early in
mid-December.
Although it was less than two weeks before Christmas, I
found it difficult to be in a festive mood. I went through
the motions of putting up a few decorations around the
house, but my heart wasn't in it this year.
Our family was going through one of the most difficult years
of our lives with major health issues, a serious
work-related problem for my husband, and difficulties with
our teenage son. Some decisions we needed to make in the
months ahead could alter the direction of our lives for
years to come.
Yes, Christmas was coming. I knew I should be focusing on
the birth of Christ. As a Christian, I should be remembering
God's goodness and His blessings, but my focus was often on
the overwhelming problems we were experiencing. I often felt
numb.
"Mom, I wish we could spend Christmas with Grandpa and
Grandma in Minnesota. I miss them, and all of my aunts and
uncles and cousins," said Rachel, 15, as she sat on the
floor, wrapping a small package for one of her friends.
A wave of homesickness swept through me. Because of the
distance, we had spent far too many Christmases away from
our family.
"I know you'd like to spend Christmas in Minnesota, Rachel.
So would I." I looked up from the notes I was writing on my
printed Christmas letters. "But Minnesota is 1,200 miles
from Calgary. You remember how hard it was to drive in that
snowstorm two years ago. And then the temperature dropped to
-30 degrees on the way back."
"I remember. Tim and I almost froze our feet when the heater
didn't work well."
We had concluded driving home for Christmas was too risky.
Buying airline tickets for four people was totally out of
the question financially--ever. No one was coming over for
Christmas either; I just didn't have the energy to invite
anyone. We would be spending Christmas alone.
My thoughts were jolted back to the present when the
doorbell rang. It was now dark outside.
"Rachel, will you please get the door?"
By the time she got up off the floor, the doorbell had
stopped ringing.
As she opened the door, her voice registered surprise. "Mom,
there's a box with presents on the doorstep ... and nobody
is out here!"
I walked to the door and helped her bring in the box. Who
could have left it?
The box contained numerous packages wrapped in bright
Christmas paper. Each had a typewritten tag: Open Dec. 15,
Open Dec.16. There were a total of 12 -- the "12 Days of
Christmas." The first day, Dec. 14, was attached to a turkey
wrapped in the plastic in which it had come from the store
--so we wouldn't miss the fact that it needed to be put into
the freezer immediately and put it under the tree by
mistake!
Today's tag read: Our LOVE is given anonymously, So enjoy
fun with your family, But don't tell anyone please.
Now we were really mystified. Thankful, I put the turkey in
the freezer and the rest of the gifts under the tree.
After that, we would gather each day as a family, open one
more tag, read the clever little note inside, and then try
to guess what the package held. It became a game to us. Even
our son joined us on occasion. As the days slipped by, we
discovered potatoes, sweet potatoes, a package of
marshmallows, cranberries, packages of gelatin, pickles,
olives, cans of green beans, corn, mints, ginger ale and
nuts. Together the packages made a complete Christmas dinner
for four people. We opened the 12th package on December 25.
As we opened each anonymous package, we realized someone was
thinking of us, loving us, wishing us a wonderful Christmas.
Someone who wished to remain anonymous.
As it turned out, a family from work gave us an invitation
for Christmas dinner a few days before Christmas. We ended
up celebrating New Year's Day with the goodies which our
benefactor had lovingly given us. We were blessed and so
thankful to be loved!
In the following years, the Lord helped us unravel the knot
of difficulties one by one--many were inter-related. The
life-altering decision never had to be made; health issues
were diagnosed and treated, a solution was found for the
serious work-related problem, and our son outgrew his
rebellious teen years. Now, four years later, our nightmare
year seems like a distant memory. We've gone through a time
of healing as a family.
You're probably wondering if we ever found out who gave us
the anonymous Christmas gift. We never did. At first I
wanted to know, but later it became unimportant. Now I
realize knowing would spoil things. That gift was given out
of love with no strings attached, with nothing we could do
to deserve it or to pay the person back. It came when we
needed a reminder that we were loved. I still have the
little tags folded in a page of my journal. What a wonderful
memory!
To me, that 12-day gift is like God's Gift at Christmas;
with no strings attached, not something we could earn or
deserve. Love freely given with no thought of return—that's
what Christmas is all about.
© Janet Seever 2001
jseever1@shaw.ca
Write Janet and let her know your thoughts on her story!
Living in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband and two adult
children, Janet Seever writes for Word Alive magazine. She
has had a variety of articles and short stories published in
magazines and on Internet, including a number on
HeartTouchers. You can find more of Janet's writing at:
http://www.inscribe.org/janetseever