Our Christmas Gift

All of the presents we were able to buy for our secret family!

(Things like an MP3 player, PJ's, Clothes, Shoes, and fun things to do)

The kids loved helping with all of the wrapping.

We made tags for each present, each on with a different encouraging message.

The jackpot of presents all wrapped and ready to deliver!

This year we had an incredible Christmas experience. Decota has been deeply touched by the hard life of a boy at her school. His story has made all of us evaluate our lives, and truly realize how fortunate and blessed we are.

This little boy had been placed in foster care last year along with his 16 year old and 8 year old sisters. They were removed from the home after CPS found out that the older sister had been caring for the children on her own for awhile. The mom had found the "love of her life" and had moved him in to their house. The boyfriend apparently abused all of the children, badly. When the police became involved he was given a restraining order to stay away from the house. The mom could not be without her true love, so she moved him back in and told the kids they had to stay in one part of the house to avoid him. They all stayed in one room, and the 16 year old slept sitting up against the door to try to block him from coming in. When the police found out he was back, he went on the run. The mom told the kids that they would one day leave her and so she needed to go with him because he would always be there for her- and then she left. The older sister was able to get a job at a local college's cafeteria so that she could bring in money and try to pay the bills. This also enabled her to bring home food for the kids. They tried to keep it quite and deal with it so that they would not be split up, but of course something had to be done when CPS found out. They were then placed in foster care with a Jehovah's Witness family (they are Jehovah's Witness). CPS later found out that the family was keeping the three kids in the garage, and that they were only allowed to come in to go to the bathroom. The police came by and told the family they could not keep them out there, so they were simply moved inside. The oldest sister is supposed to be an excellent student (she even received the award of Student of the Month while all of this was going on), she is a mentor to other kids with a program through the school, and is working to help pay her part for the family. She is working very hard to graduate early so that she can get emancipated, get a better job, and get custody of the kids. Teachers are trying to encourage her to find a way to go to college, but she is so devoted to trying to make a more stable life for her siblings that she can't see how it would be possible right now. The oldest sister gives all that she has to her younger siblings. The kids wear clothes that are too big or too small. They wear shoes that are 5 sizes big, or have holes in the soles. They have never been to a movie. They have never done most things that normal kids do. When we heard their story we knew we had to do something to lift their spirits and help them out.

I was very concerned as to how we were going to be able to do anything for this family, but we all knew we needed to. Because it was a very tight Christmas for us this year, the kids all decided that they would give up quite a bit of their presents in order to free up the funds to shop for this family. My parents and my sisters were sooooo sweet and pitched in, too. It seemed like everywhere I went I was able to get so much more for my money than I had imagined. There were deals to be found everywhere, local stores graciously giving me so much more than I had paid for, and blessings all around.

The pile of presents quickly piled up. These kids had never received a present in their lives, so we wanted it to be a big deal and wrapped everything individually. Because they are Jehovah's Witnesses I felt strongly that we should not make it all Christmasey, so I decided to wrap each kids gifts in their own brightly colored paper and make a special tag for each gift. On each tag I recognized some unique quality in them, or gave them words of encouragement. The gifts turned out wonderfully, and we all had such a great time preparing them.

When the presents were all ready, Rodney and I loaded up the car and snuck them into the councilor's office. She was overcome with emotion as we brought them in, and later called Declan and Decota in and cried as she thanked them for their participation. The little boy was brought in later and was shown the gifts. We were told that his eyes got huge as he saw the stack of presents, and that he kept saying it was a dream come true. He told the councilor that his sisters had made him homemade gifts before, and that his mom had given him her leftovers from a restaurant as a gift before, but that he had never had a real present. The councilor then had him read a couple of the tags and he started to cry. He was so touched that someone felt that way about him. He was then told that the next day after school he and his sisters would meet at the councilor's office and open the presents. Talk about a Christmas Eve- 12 years worth of anticipation all in one night. Decota said he was just beaming for the rest of that day and the next. She said by the end of the next day he was bouncing in his seat, hardly able to stand it any longer. I guess there were lots of smiles and tears as their Christmas surprises were opened.

The whole process was such a touching experience for our family. There was not a whole lot of "I want this" and "I want that" at our house this year. The day we dropped off the presents we were talking with the kids and they said that Christmas for them was already over, everything else was just icing on the cake. On Christmas morning the kids kept commenting on how this was the best Christmas ever. They kept commenting on how they thought they had received more than ever, even though in reality it was cut back to about 1/2. We all had such a happy, calm, peaceful feeling about us over the Christmas break. I feel so blessed by this experience. I am so grateful to my parents and Rodney's parents for teaching us about the benefits and blessings of service by showing us through their actions. I am so grateful for my children's sweet, tender spirits. I am so grateful for the support of my parents and sisters in helping us to achieve more. I am grateful for the Christmas holiday and for the wonderful spirit it brings into the people of the world. Mostly I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for prompting Decota to befriend this boy, for prompting me to talk to the right teacher to get it done, and for allowing us to be blessed by having this opportunity in our lives. This was truly our family's BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!!