Season of giving should be all year long

Rita Johnson from Bronson shared the following Christmas letter from her daughter, whose husband is stationed in Hawaii. It is a reminder to all of us that the "season of giving" should be observed throughout the entire year.

We live in Hawaii and there are lots of homeless that abound here. Every time we go to the grocery store, we pass a homeless man that lives under a bridge near our home. For a while now, I have felt led to do something for him. So a few days before Christmas, the girls and I went out shopping for him. They decided that he needed a blanket and pillow and some food. I was very proud to see the two of them so excited to buy him these things he needed.

If I had left it up to them, we would have walked out with half the store! Later, we noticed that he was not under the bridge and one of the carts with his belongings was also gone. Feeling disappointed, I told the girls that we have missed our chance, as he may have moved on. However, on Christmas Eve, we wrapped up the food and put my daughter's pillowcase on the pillow for him. While doing so, my heart was sad, honestly thinking that we should have done something sooner.

But no sooner had the thought entered my head when I heard a voice say, "Just go, Nikki; he'll be there." I am a pessimist by nature, so obviously I was still skeptical, but we packed everything in the truck and, after the Christmas Eve service at church, we drove to his "spot." The area next to the bridge where he lives was blocked off but, when we pulled up, the truck lights illuminated his spot so we could see.

At first, it looked deserted, but then my husband said, "Wait, I see someone!"So we all piled out and took our things with us. Sure enough, there he was, just lying down for the night. We quietly walked up and handed him the pillow; he immediately put it under his head.

Then my husband carefully laid the blanket on him and deposited the box of food nearby. My daughters had made him a good bag of "fake snow" and a pencil... the last gift to give him. A simple "God bless you," from him made our night.

As we were getting back in the truck, my daughter turned to me with tears in her eyes and said, "Mom, we need to buy him a house." Maybe not this year, but we know, as a family, we will be doing this more often in the future!