December 11, 2013
My life took an unexpected turn in October 2006, when I received an email asking me if I would come to the U.S. right away to help with the care of my son’s six-month-old baby boy. With the help of friends and family, I was able to make the trans-Atlantic trip within a week. I soon found myself fully absorbed in taking care of my darling little grandson 24/7, as well as helping my son sort out a myriad of legal and other matters related to his pending divorce.
One night, a little over a month later, weary and tired after yet another long day of juggling the care of the baby, phone calls, and running other errands, I sank into bed with tears in my eyes. Christmas was fast approaching, and I thought of all the plans I’d had for the season and all I would be missing back “home” in the Middle East, where I’d worked for the past nine-plus years. I felt a little resentful, and I remembered a comment someone made to me earlier that week when they asked me, “Aren’t you trying to do too much and taking too much on yourself?”
I was starting to wonder that myself, and I felt tempted to throw in the towel and tell my son that I also had my life to think about. But I knew that if I were to bail out of the situation even partially, it would leave my son in a very difficult spot and my little grandson without the care he needed. No, I could never do that. I whispered another prayer for help and strength. I asked God to help me cast my cares on Him and to fulfill His promise that as my days, so would my strength be.1
Then, as clearly as if He had stood next to me, I heard His voice, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”2
Tears filled my eyes as I recalled the passage in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus described in detail the things that we will be judged on when we stand before His throne. What’s really important is what we’ve done to help those who are in need, those who are hungry or thirsty, lost or lonely, sick or in prison. All my concerns and selfish desires suddenly seemed so petty, and I felt ashamed for feeling like giving up.
The true meaning of Christmas dawned on me once again like a bright star against the backdrop of a dark night sky. The Christmas fun and fellowship are a wonderful bonus, but the essence of Christmas is that Jesus left His home that very first Christmas to help and save us, when we were down and out. It cost Him everything, and I imagine that He also felt like giving up halfway at some point, weary with the strain of it all, but He didn’t. He went the distance. He went all the way to the cross for us and saw things through to the end.
“Thank You, Lord,” I whispered. “My strength is small, but please help me to follow Your example and to persevere in showing Your Christmas love to my loved ones and to those that cross my path. Thank You for giving me the opportunity to go the distance for You.”
Sure enough, that Christmas did turn out to be different from any other Christmas I’ve experienced, but it was very special in its own way—a Christmas filled with the joy of knowing that by giving my all, I was not only filling a genuine need in the lives of my loved ones, but I was also giving back to Him.
Seven years have come and gone since that Christmas. I am still helping to take care of my grandson, who is nearly eight years old now, and was diagnosed with autism in 2010. When I look at his smiling face, my heart fills with joy and gratitude for what God showed me that first Christmas in the U.S. I know this Christmas will be as special as that one, and the ones that followed in the years after, because all that I’ve given of myself, He has returned many times over in multiplied joy and unequalled fulfillment.
Truly, it is more blessed to give than to receive3 and when we give, it shall be given to us again, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.4
Merry Christmas, everyone!
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”—Matthew 25:31–405
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