Throwing Away Christmas

It was Christmas, 2025. The Saturday morning before Christmas, with Christmas coming the following Thursday, Terri and I were sitting in the living room having our quiet morning time. We started discussing what we had left to do before Christmas. Terri said, “I still have to wrap the books.” I asked, “Where are they?” She replied, “In the big box where we were keeping the presents.” I said, “No … they’re not … ” I sat in silence processing my actions, rehearsing every step.

We had a big box, about four feet tall, that we had hidden the gifts until they were wrapped. On Tuesday I looked and the box was empty except for some trash in the bottom. I rummaged around the paper with my hand and found nothing so I stuffed another box into that one and took it to the road on trash day. Apparently it was NOT empty and I had overlooked some items laying flat on the bottom. As I sat in disbelief, we began to go over what gifts I had just sent to the landfill. The Saturday before we had gone to Monroe and purchased some books at Books-a-Million and a Blessings Christian Book Store, including a nice leather journal for Nova to go with the Life Application Study Bible for Boys we had ordered for him. All of those books, the journal, and yes, the study Bible, were in the box I had taken to the street. About a hundred and fifty dollars to the dump. God’s Word was thrown away with the trash! I was sick, I mean literally felt ill. I knew I was going to have to go to Little Rock or somewhere to replace the gifts. Terri saved the day by finding places to order them all and still get them delivered by Christmas. I spent the rest of the day punishing myself with self-loathing.

We can let Christmas time become stressful as we scramble to find the right gifts to buy for our loved ones. Many families find the biggest challenge finding a gift for someone who has everything. On Christmas Eve, I picked up Nova, Myla and Wren and we took some gifts we bought and wrapped to a new friend of mine named Allen. This friend happens to have no home, lives in a tent and has almost nothing. We arranged for him to meet us at McDonald’s where I was going buy his lunch and we would all eat together. When I arrived he had just finished doing some work with a painter and said he already ate some sandwiches. So we ate our lunch and then we went to his place. As we stood in front of his tent, we handed him the gifts one at a time. He opened the first gift, fumbling with the paper in nervousness, and said, “I haven’t done this in about 15 years.” The kids had bought him a solar powered tent light. My gifts were a tarp, some tent stakes, a rubber mallet and nylon rope. I had been to his place before and noticed the tarp he had over his tent was tattered and he was using sticks for tent stakes. The new tarp, stakes and rope would help secure his dwelling better against the weather. The last gift was some pumpkin bread Terri had made, sprinkled with powdered sugar over the top in a Christmas tin.

After he open the gifts he said, “I’m going to get you something, too.” I insisted he didn’t have to give us anything. He happened to have some toys that had been part of some McDonald’s happy meals so he gave them to the kids. I convinced him to let us help him with the tarp as it would be easier than trying to do it alone. We unfolded the tarp, centered it over the tent, tied on the rope and the kids enthusiastically helped drive the stakes in the ground. At one point Wren whispered something to me, so I bent down to listen. She asked, “Can I go in the tent.” I said, “No, that’s where Mr. Allen sleeps.” Allen heard us talking and asked what she said. I told him and he said, “She can go in the tent.” So he walked over and unzipped the doorway, but she wouldn’t go in now that there was so much attention on it. After the task was done we stood around and talked for a while. The kids enjoyed talking to Mr. Allen. He was very thankful, we all were.

Giving takes on many forms. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…” Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was the greatest gift ever given, having come down from the Father to rescue us from our desperate situation. Yet we get so wrapped up (pun intended) in the hecticity of the trappings of the season when it really isn’t complicated. The Father gave the Son so we can have life.

That night, Christmas Eve, we open gifts at our house, so we passed out the gifts and unwrapped each with anticipation and excitement. Everyone oohed and aahed and many outfits were modeled. When the evening came to a close, Brad and Chanda, Nova, Myla and Wren, packed up boxes of gifts and loaded them in the car. Wren was darting around searching for something she had put down somewhere. She quizzed everyone as to the whereabouts of the McDonald toys Mr. Allen had given her. Of all the toys, books and clothes she received, she had not forgotten about the gift given to her by a man who has nothing.

Often the youngest among us has the most pure perspective. That’s why Jesus said unless we become like children we will not see the Kingdom of Heaven. When it comes down to it, I hadn’t thrown away Christmas after all. It will be one I will cherish.

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