The Warmest Gift

The Warmest Gift

Give, and you will receive. Luke 6:38

As the first Christmas after my husband’s death loomed, I called The Salvation Army and offered myself and my children to deliver food baskets. The staff welcomed our help, but the morning of our assignment was so bitterly cold I couldn’t get warm, even with my new coat tightly buttoned.

Still, I had promised, so the three of us made deliveries up rickety steps to above-the-store apartments and weather-beaten houses near the railroad tracks. We carried in the bags of food and offered a hearty “Merry Christmas!” along with each good-bye, but the cold continued to penetrate my coat and my heart. I was cold, the weather was miserable, and I couldn’t see I was making a great difference in anyone’s life. After all, if we hadn’t been delivering the groceries, someone else would have been.

Then we arrived at the last tired little house, where we were invited in. Everything was clean, but the floor tiles were worn down to the wooden boards beneath. The curtains had been mended so many times the stitches made a pattern in the thin material. As I set down the bag containing a small turkey, potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, and rolls, the elderly couple thanked me repeatedly. All I had to do was smile and walk out the door, but there was a wistfulness in the couple’s voices as they invited us to “stay awhile.” So we remained for a brief visit, and upon discovering the woman’s need for a coat, I gave her mine.

She hugged me and whispered, “God bless you, honey,” as tears rolled down her cheeks. All I could do was whisper back, “Thank you for letting me do this.”

When my children and I left, we waved good-bye from the driveway. Then my daughter turned to me. “Mom! It’s freezing out here! And you gave away your coat!”

I gave her shoulders a little squeeze. “I know. But this is the warmest I’ve been all day. In fact, it’s the warmest I’ve been in a very long time.”

And truly it was. —SANDRA

Lord, this world is filled with lonely, hurting people. I can’t solve all their problems, but I can make a difference. Help me to first see the needs of others and then do what I can. And may I take my instructions about whom I help only from you.

All we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is eternal.

—ALBERT PIKE (1809–1891), AMERICAN ATTORNEY, SOLDIER, AND WRITER