We all have favorite Christmas memories that we cherish. Some may be because of the gifts we received. Some may be from the fun and laughter of gatherings with relatives. Some may be something as simple as having a white Christmas.
Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money. Both of my parents grew up in the depression, when they made everything work again and again. Nothing was wasted. So in our house, nothing was wasted! But - then there were the catalogues that came at Christmas! Those catalogues were absolutely prized during that time - even if we didn't get to buy anything from it. We pored over the pages, wishing for what we couldn't have. We may not have gotten everything we wanted (what kids do) but we had marvelous Christmas presents anyway!
This Christmas memory that I'm sharing, was sort of, kind of, maybe a miracle! 😊 As I mentioned before, we didn't have a lot of extra money. Things that weren't essential were not purchased. Our house had a good wall heater, but mom and dad turned it down at night to save on heating bills. They used lots of blankets on their bed to keep toasty warm. Us kids were upstairs and we'd pile so many blanket on, that we could hardly turn over. My mom decided she wanted one of the new "electric blankets" that would help keep them snug and warm on frosty winter nights. So my mom started a nest egg, putting a little money back, here and there. She made it to her goal, but had not ordered the blanket from the catalog nor purchased it on a shopping trip yet.
Now for the weird part or good part or whatever you want to call it. We went to church whenever there was any service whatsoever. This particular night was held by a missionary who was just back to the US. They described the poverty, the hunger, the lack of resources that they dealt with every day in Africa. Of course, the church took up an offering. When we got home, my brother, sister and I overheard her talking to daddy about the offering. (well maybe we were eavesdropping on purpose).
She told daddy that she felt compelled to give the money to the missionaries that she had scrimped and saved to buy an electric blanket. Now how us kids got back upstairs without them hearing us laughing and giggling is a miracle in itself. You see, we had already ordered an electric blanket for her Christmas present. My brother chipped in the most, I chipped in babysitting money, and since my sister was too little to contribute money, we gave her a pass and still put her name on the card.
Christmas morning came. Mom opened her present - the electric blanket. She pulled it out and started crying. We were horrified - had we done something wrong? Then she told us about giving her nest egg to the missionaries instead of buying herself the blanket. Of course, true confession - we started giggling and told her we had gotten the blanket a long time ago, and we had heard her tell daddy about her giving the money to the missionaries.
I can tell you - that Christmas has stayed in my memory for 53 years. That blanket kept my mom and dad very warm and toasty for years. It was a special Christmas blessing!
Merry Christmas to all my friends and family. I hope 2021 is much kinder to us than 2020 has been.
💕
