The True Meaning of Christmas comes from People
The contributor of this story wishes to remain anonymous; I will call her Zoe. Zoe told me that she learned the true meaning of Christmas from people. Zoe was working part-time as a cashier at a local department store. Her husband had been hurt on the job and could not work. She had two small children, and I think we all know, with kids, if you feed them, they grow, and when they grow, they require clothes, doctors, dentists, shoes, entertainment, and love. Zoe had plenty of love for her family, but Christmas was around the corner, and she had no extra money to buy Christmas presents, let alone a tree to decorate. The bills were piling up, and Zoe was doing what she could to pay them. It was hard some days just to get up in the morning, knowing bill collectors were facing her, and to see the look on her children’s faces when they talked of Santa and of the things they wanted for Christmas.
Zoe arrived at work one afternoon and was met by two fellow employees who had been waiting for her. Her first thought was, Oh no, I hope they aren’t laying people off, what will I do. The two employees walked her to the time clock, and clearly, there was an air of excitement around them. The two employees explained to Zoe that every year they adopted two families for Christmas, and they had decided that her family was one of the families this year. Zoe was beside herself; she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How did these two employees know about her situation? How did they know she had been laboring over this issue for weeks? How could she ever repay them? Should she actually accept this offer? Tears came to her eyes; she was amazed that these two people she didn’t know much about were offering her a solution to her problem. Sure, she had seen them around the store, and they had exchanged greetings from time to time, but they were not connected in any way other than they all worked for the same company. She thanked the two employees and went about her day. Zoe thought about the offer all day long. She went home and told her husband about these two kind women who wanted to help. Zoe’s husband wasn’t sure that they should accept, but after discussing the matter with one another, they decided that they needed to accept for their children.
The week of Christmas arrived, and the two employees presented Zoe with gifts for her family. That evening, she came home with a big smile. She wasn’t home more than half an hour when there was a knock on the door. Zoe answered, and 2 people from the church were standing there with a box of groceries. There was turkey and all the fixings for a proper Christmas dinner. Zoe began to cry…she learned the true meaning of Christmas that day. It isn’t about the gifts, or even the dinner she received, but it was about people helping one another, it was about giving.
Zoe reports that she will never forget what happened all those years ago and how she learned that the true meaning of Christmas comes from people helping people. Zoe’s miracle came from a number of different people. People stimulate the miracles in our backyard. Who is your miracle?
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I would like to hear from anyone who has been on the receiving or giving end of small miracles. Email me, or leave your information here, so that I can publish your story and promote Backyard Miracles.