The Thirty-four-dollar Christmas

The Thirty-Four-Dollar Christmas

The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! Luke 2:11

Even these many years later, we still refer to our first holiday in Colorado as the thirty-four-dollar Christmas.

But even with scant funds, it was an incredible day! Our family part of the morning started with our own early gift exchange. Jay gave Holly coupons for math help, and Holly promised to do several loads of his wash. One of Jay’s gifts to me was a sheet of tickets for eight long walks, a sacrifice for my nonwalker! One of Holly’s gifts was a free-verse poem called “Parenting,” in which she thanked me for being “a great person and mom.”

Of course I cried when I read it. After all, many parents don’t have things like that said about them until they’re dead! Not having money forced the kids to come up with creative solutions, a skill I hope they’ll carry into their futures.

After our family time, four adults and ten children of “The Lost and Found Gang,” as we called ourselves, arrived. Several weeks before, my new friends and I had agreed the only gifts we’d exchange would be acts of service or items we’d made. After a potluck Christmas dinner, we exchanged promises for help with errands, plates of cookies, and delightful homemade gifts, such as avocado candlesticks. It was an incredible day and all because we refused to let a lack of money spoil our fun. —SANDRA

Lord, thank you for creating good memories and joy out of some of my toughest times. Help me to rejoice during situations instead of waiting until years later.

Give a little love to a child and you get a great deal back.

—JOHN RUSKIN (1819–1900), ENGLISH SOCIAL CRITIC, AUTHOR, POET, AND ARTIST