RELIGON .....The Greatest Gift of All - E-Mail Ministry

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[E-Mail Ministry] The Greatest Gift of All - E-Mail Ministry

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THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL

It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our

Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has

peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It

all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas---oh, not the true

meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it overspending ...

the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle

Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma---the gifts given in

desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts,

sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for

Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son , who was 12

that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended;

and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a

team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters,

dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only

thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in

their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was

wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a

wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not

afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class.

And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in

his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't

acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them

could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like

this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids --- all

kids --- and he knew them, having coached little league football,

baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. That

afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an

assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to

the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside

telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His

smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in

succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition --- one

year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters, to a hockey

game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had

burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the

last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their

new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted

the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew,

the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never

lost its allure.

The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to

dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in

grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing

an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three

more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an

envelope on the tree for their dad.

The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our

grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation

watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like

the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the

true Christmas spirit this year and always. God bless---pass this along

to your friends and loved ones.

-- Author Unknown

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